January 28, 2012
Q Poll confirms Rasmussen: Romney pulling back out front in Florida
By Scott Powers
A new Florida poll by Quinnipiac University taken Tuesday through Thursday shows that Mitt Romney has re-established a solid lead over Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary race.
The Q-poll finds Romney leading among registered Republican voters with 38 percent to 29 percent for Gingrich. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas places third with 14 percent and Rick Santorum, the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania gets 12.
The poll shows movement since one taken by Quinnipiac over the weekend, which showed Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, with a slim 36-34 lead over Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker.
The poll confirms a trend reported late Thursday by Rasmussen Reports, which found Romney had a 39-31 advantage over Gingrich.
The swing from Gingrich to Romney seems to be principally among men. Romney already had a comfortable advantage with women, Quinnipiac reported.
“Speaker Newt Gingrich’s momentum from his South Carolina victory appears to have stalled and Gov. Mitt Romney seems to be pulling away in Florida,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Romney also has a better favorability rating from likely primary voters, which supports his lead in the horse race. Of course, with four days before Election Day, there is time for another reversal. Three in 10 voters say they might change their mind.”
The poll was of 580 Republican likely primary voters with a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.
