Rasmussen: Bachmann Running Second to Romney

Rep. Michele Bachmann has surged into second place behind Mitt Romney following Monday’s Republican presidential debate and Bachmann’s entry into the race for the GOP nomination, a new Rasmussen Reports national poll reveals.

Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney (AP photos)

The survey of likely GOP primary voters shows former Massachusetts Gov. Romney with 33 percent support, and Bachmann with 19 percent. Businessman Herman Cain is in third place with 10 percent of the vote.

In a late April Rasmussen poll, Donald Trump led the pack with 19 percent, followed by Romney at 17 percent and Mike Huckabee with 15 percent. Trump and Huckabee have since announced that they are not seeking the nomination.

“With her impressive New Hampshire debate performance, Bachmann has gone from a conservative Sarah Palin-lite curiosity to a potential game-changer,” Time magazine reported.

“For two hours onstage with her GOP rivals, Bachmann appeared polished, serene and in command,” Time added.

In the new poll, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was fourth with 9 percent, followed by Rep. Ron Paul (7 percent), former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (6 percent each), and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (2 percent). The remaining respondents said they prefer some other candidate.

Romney and Bachmann are tied at 26 percent among primary voters who say they are tea party members, while Romney holds a 36 percent to 16 percent lead over Bachmann among nonmembers.

Bachmann is described as “very conservative” by 55 percent of respondents in the Rasmussen survey, while only 11 percent say Romney is very conservative.