COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A new poll shows it's a close race between Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ahead of South Carolina's first-in-the-South presidential primary.
The Winthrop Poll released Tuesday shows Perry was the first choice among 30 percent of Republican voters, with 27 percent choosing Romney ahead of the Feb. 28 contest. That's within the poll's 4 percentage-point margin of error for the 596 GOP or Republican-leaning voters called between Sept. 11 and Sept. 18.
The poll showed 12 percent of the Republicans surveyed were undecided.
Businessman Herman Cain had 7 percent, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin 6 percent and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich 5 percent. Tea party favorites and Reps. Michelle Bachmann and Ron Paul were at 4 percent.
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