A new
Gallup poll shows that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has some work to do in shoring up his support among key GOP constituencies. The survey, taken April 2 to 8, before Rick Santorum’s withdrawal from the race, shows former Massachusetts Gov. Romney with tepid support in several important demographics compared to former Pennsylvania Sen. Santorum — and in one case, even Ron Paul.
In the poll of Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters, Romney was tied with Santorum at 32 percent support in the Midwest.
Among voters 18 to 34, Romney led Texas Rep. Paul only 30 percent to 27 percent. Among conservative voters, Romney led Santorum by a less-than-overwhelming 39 percent to 31 percent. And putting Santorum, Gingrich, and Paul together, Romney trailed 51 percent to 39 percent.
Among the most religious voters, Romney led Santorum only 39 to 33 percent. And Romney trailed the combined total of his three opponents 50 percent to 39 percent.
To be sure, Romney led Santorum overall among GOP voters by 41 to 25 percent. And some of the respondents in the categories where Romney showed weakness will shift their support to the front-runner now that Santorum is out of the race. But the numbers still indicate that support for Romney is tenuous in important parts of the Republican base.
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