The latest Rasmussen poll of likely Florida Republican primary voters shows former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has gained a double digit lead over rival candidate Newt Gingrich with the Florida Republican primary election looming.
Mr. Romney finished the poll garnering 44 percent of the votes, with Mr. Gingrich trailing at 28 percent.
The poll is reflective of other recent surveys, showing the former House speaker has significantly declined in popularity over the last week. In the Rasmussen poll released a day after the South Carolina Republican primary election, Mr. Gingrich was leading the former Massachusetts governor by 9 percentage points.
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum finished the poll in a distant third place with 12 percent, trailed by Texas congressman Ron Paul who finished with 10 percent of the votes.
Mr. Santorum is currently in Pennsylvania with his daughter Bella who is currently hospitalized with pneumonia, it is unknown when he will return to the campaign trail.
Mr. Paul has also been absent from campaigning in Florida, as he is focusing on states with upcoming caucuses. The Texas congressman spent the majority of last week campaigning in Maine. His campaign staff wants to focus on states where he can gain more delegates, in Florida the winner of the primary election wins all 50 of the state’s delegates.
Florida voters also have a more favorable view of Mr. Romney than they do Mr. Gingrich, and more Republican voters believe the former Massachusetts governor can defeat President Barack Obama. Mr. Romney finished the Rasmussen poll with 70 percent of the voters stating they have a favorable view of him, compared to 58 percent for Mr. Gingrich.
Additionally, 68 percent of the voters polled believe Mr. Romney will win the 2012 Republican nomination, compared to just 21 percent for Mr. Gingrich.
“One week ago tonight we were polling, and Speaker Gingrich was fresh of the South Carolina victory, he was up by nine points, that lead disappeared mid week where you had Romney up by 8,” said Scott Rasmussen, founder and president of Rasmussen Reports, in an appearance on Fox News Sunday.
Mr. Romney’s performance in the two nationally televised debates last week was likely a major influence on voters polled by Rasmussen Reports, as a total of 24 percent of the voters said the debates were “very important” factors in making their decision. Another 57 percent of the voters said the debates were “somewhat important.”
The latest Rasmussen poll is similar to polls of Florida voters that were conducted following Mr. Romney’s victory in the New Hampshire Republican primary election. Throughout much of the primary race leading up to South Carolina, Mr. Romney held a substantial lead over the former House speaker.
“Part of it is the financial resources that Romney’s able to deploy,” said Mr. Rasmussen on Sunday. “Part of it though, Newt Gingrich did very well because he did so well in the debates in South Carolina. He didn’t do so well this week in the debates in Florida.”
The Rasmussen Reports poll was conducted among 750 likely Florida Republican primary voters on January 28th with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
