The third major poll released in two days shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum statistically tied among Republican primary voters nationwide.
The latest survey, from
CBS News/New York Times, indicates that Santorum has 30 percent support, compared to 27 percent for Romney. That’s well within the 5 percentage point margin of error for the poll. Texas Rep. Ron Paul placed third with 12 percent support, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich trailed with 10 percent.
Monday’s polls came from Gallup, which showed Romney with a statistically insignificant lead of 32 to 30 percent, and Pew Research Center, which showed Santorum with a statistically insignificant lead of 30 to 28 percent.
In the CBS/New York Times poll, Santorum has nearly doubled his 16 percent support from a month ago, when he stood in third place behind Newt Gingrich. The former House Speaker has lost 11 points of support since then. Romney’s support level was little changed.
Santorum benefits from strong support among conservatives, tea party supporters, and white evangelicals. Santorum’s conservative support is far higher than Romney’s. And Gingrich’s support among conservatives has plunged by 50 percent from last month.
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