Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is solidly ahead of the Republican field in the state of Arizona, according to the latest poll, however, former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Rick Santorum is quickly gaining.
The numbers from North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling show Mr. Romney leads Mr. Santorum 36-33. Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, is third at 16 percent and Texas Congressman Ron Paul fourth with nine percent.
“The reason Romney’s leading in Arizona but trailing in those other places is that he’s at least staying competitive with the groups he tends to be weaker with,” polling analyst Jim Williams said. “For instance he’s only down by 11 points with Tea Party voters, 13 with those describing themselves as ‘very conservative,’ and just 18 with Evangelicals. Those are all groups he’s losing by more than 25 points in Michigan right now.”
The poll finds Romney is up by good-sized margins in Arizona with seniors (41 to 32), Hispanics (41-30), women (39 to 31), ‘somewhat conservative’ voters (43 to 29), and moderates (39 to 22).
Interestingly, Mr. Gingrich’s latest numbers present a challenge to Mr. Santorum. Forty percent of his supporters say that Mr. Santorum is their second choice, compared to only 25 percent for Mr. Romney.
