The American Research Group poll released Wednesday shows Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich leading rival Mitt Romney among voters in Oklahoma.
Mr. Gingrich finished the poll with 34 percent of the votes, trailed by Mr. Romney at 31 percent.
After winning two caucuses and a primary election Tuesday, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum finished the poll in a distant third place with 16 percent of the votes. Mr. Santorum is trailed in the poll by Texas congressman Ron Paul who finished with 10 percent of the votes.
An interesting aspect of the poll is that the majority of Oklahoma Republican voters who said they will “definitely” vote in the Oklahoma Republican primary election chose Mr. Gingrich. Those voters who stated that they will “probably” vote in the election chose Mr. Romney.
The ARG poll shows that Mr. Gingrich continues to enjoy the support of voters who identify themselves as Tea Party Republicans, while he also continues to struggle with women voters.
Mr. Gingrich has struggled to gain the support of women voters in polls throughout the Republican primary race. That factor is likely the result of two failed marriages and a third marriage with current wife Callista, with whom he had an extramarital affair with while serving as speaker of the House in the 1990s.
The former House speaker leads Mr. Romney among male voters in Oklahoma by 10 percentage points.
The ARG poll was conducted between February 6th and 7th among 600 likely Oklahoma Republican primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The results for Mr. Santorum in this poll shows that voters in Oklahoma were not influenced by his popularity in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri. In the days leading up to the caucuses and primary election in those three states, Mr. Santorum surged in several polls of voters there.
The Oklahoma Republican primary election occurs on Super Tuesday in March, a day that will include a total of 10 state primary elections. Mr. Gingrich is hoping to do well in southern states such as Oklahoma where he enjoys regional popularity.
Including Oklahoma, four of the state primary elections on Super Tuesday have a large base of southern conservative voters.
