The USA Today/Gallup poll of Republican voters released Monday shows that 55 percent of Republican voters nationwide wish there was another Republican presidential candidate that they could vote for.
In contrast, 44 percent of the voters surveyed said that they are satisfied with the current field of Republican presidential candidates featuring Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich.
The poll also found that out of the remaining four candidates, Mr. Santorum is the current favorite as he finished the poll with 50 percent of the votes, trailed by Mr. Romney at 44 percent in a one on one match up.
“In the separate daily Gallup poll of the entire Republican field, Santorum’s lead over Romney grew Monday to 10 percentage points, 36%-26%. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is at 13% and Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 11%,” wrote USA Today writer Susan Page.
All four candidates have recently stated that they plan on staying in the Republican primary race until the Republican National Convention this summer.
After Mr. Romney emerged as the early favorite to win primary race, Republican strategists, elected officials and political analysts are questioning whether can win the race. Recent victories by Mr. Santorum have thrown a lot of momentum behind him, but many political analysts have brought up the possibility of a brokered Republican convention where a new nominee could be selected.
Mr. Santorum’s strong social conservative views on issues such as abortion and contraception have seemingly alienated moderate Republicans and undecided voters, who question whether he would be the best Republican candidate against President Barack Obama in the fall.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush have been constantly rumored as possibly being selected as the nominee at the convention.
Although the poll showed that the majority of Republican voters would like to have a different Republican candidate to vote for, 66 percent of those same voters are opposed to a brokered convention.
The USA Today/Gallup poll was conducted between February 16th and February 19th among 1,014 voters nationwide, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
