As the Republican presidential candidates prepare to debate each other in Arizona Wednesday night, the latest NBC poll shows Mitt Romney leading rival Rick Santorum by 16 percentage points among voters there.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finished the poll in third place with 16 percent, and Texas congressman Ron Paul finished with 11 percent.
The debate in Mesa, Arizona moderated by CNN Wednesday night will be crucial for Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Paul, who despite the poll numbers are still looking for some kind of top tier finish in either Michigan or Arizona next week.
The NBC poll results show Mr. Romney holding a much wider lead over Mr. Santorum in Arizona than did a CNN/Time poll of voters in Arizona released Tuesday. That poll showed Mr. Romney and Mr. Santorum in a statistical tie among voters in Arizona.
Additionally, a Public Polling Policy poll of voters in Arizona released Tuesday also showed the race much closer between Mr. Romney and Mr. Santorum, as Mr. Romney finished with a three percentage point lead in that poll.
The NBC poll surveyed a much larger polling sample than both of those polls though, so that could be an indication that Mr. Romney is the favorite to win the Arizona Republican primary election next week.
Arizona appears to be a more Republican leaning state than Michigan, as President Barack Obama finished the poll trailing Mr. Santorum, Mr. Romney and Mr. Paul in hypothetical general election match ups. The president leads Mr. Gingrich by five percentage points among voters in Arizona though.
The poll results also showed that Wednesday night’s debate in Arizona might actually not influence many voters in Arizona, as only 34 percent of voters surveyed stated that the debates thus far have mattered to them “somewhat.”
The NBC poll was conducted among 2,487 registered voters in Arizona between February 19th and February 20th, with a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.
