Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is projected to win the upcoming Washington Republican caucuses by 11 percentage points, according to a Public Polling Policy poll released Tuesday.
The poll found Mr. Santorum garnering 38 percent of the votes, trailed by rival candidate Mitt Romney at 27 percent.
Texas congressman Ron Paul finished in a distant third place with 15 percent of the votes, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s chances are slim in Washington, as he finished with just 4 percent.
Last week, Mr. Santorum made a campaign appearance in Washington, on the same day that Washington Governor Chris Gregoire signed a bill into law legalizing gay marriage in her state.
The former Pennsylvania senator met with religious leaders in Washington to show support for their opposition to the gay marriage bill. He was met by protesters from the Occupy Tacoma protest group.
In contrast, although he finished in a distant third place, Mr. Paul was met with huge crowds at several events in Washington last week. The Texas lawmaker made comments supporting Washington’s pending marijuana legislation vote, and also made a call for an end to the “war on drugs.”
The next two weeks could prove to further plummet the candidacy hopes of Mr. Gingrich, as he placed fourth in the Washington poll and also finished last in the recent PPP poll of voters in Washington. The former speaker placed third in a recent poll of voters in Arizona too.
Mr. Santorum would benefit the most if Mr. Gingrich were to withdraw from the race, as Tuesday’s poll 55 percent of voters who selected Mr. Gingrich in the poll stated that Mr. Santorum was their second choice candidate.
“Rick Santorum’s the favorite in Washington for now,” said Dean Debnam, President of
Public Policy Polling. “But with half of voters open to changing their minds, Romney
wins in Michigan and Arizona could swing the momentum back in his favor.”
Just as they have in other states, Tea Party Republicans and evangelical Christian voters are the leading bases of support for Mr. Santorum in Washington state.
The PPP poll was conducted between February 16th and 19th among 400 likely Washington Republican primary voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
There are a total of 43 delegate votes up for grabs in the Washington caucuses, if Mr. Santorum pulls off victories in Michigan, Arizona and Washington as he is projected to, it would be a huge boost for his hopes of winning the nomination.
The Washington caucuses are scheduled for March 3rd.
