Rasmussen on SC: It’s Romney, Gingrich Battle

The lastest Rasmussen poll shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is still in the lead in South Carolina with Newt Gingrich surging behind him.

According to Rasmussen, Romney still holds first place in the South Carolina primary field, while his opponents jockey for second with the voting eight days away.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina finds Romney ahead with 28 percent support, but now former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is in second place with 21 percent of the vote.

Support for former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, who was in second a week ago, has fallen back to 16 percent, putting him dead even with Texas Congressman Ron Paul who also earns 16 percent.

This South Carolina survey of 750 likely Republican primary voters was conducted on Jan. 12, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points.