Despite an increasing focus on accusations of sexual harassment leveled against him, businessman Herman Cain tops a Rasmussen Reports poll of likely Republican presidential primary voters released on Thursday.
Cain leads the pack with 26 percent, closely followed by former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts who takes 23 percent. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich stands in third place with 14 percent.
The rest of the field lags behind with single digits. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas places fourth with 8 percent followed by a fellow Republican from the Lone Star State, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who takes fifth place with 7 percent. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota are knotted in sixth place with 2 percent, followed by former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania with 1 percent.
Cain has rocketed to the top of polls in recent months after winning the Republican Party of Floridas Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando in September. While Perry led a Rasmussen poll in September, Cain and Romney tied to lead one in October with 29 percent apiece.
More than three quarters of Republicans -- 76 percent -- know that Cain is facing accusations of sexual harassment. For the moment, 48 percent of Republicans believe these claims are unlikely while 25 percent think they are somewhat likely. Thirteen percent of the Republicans surveyed think the accusations against Cain are very likely to be true.
With two months to go before the Iowa caucus, which starts off the procession of states determining the Republican nominee, the poll found the race remains very fluid. Less than a third of Republicans surveyed -- 32 percent -- are sure they will back their current candidate, while 68 percent remain open to backing one of the other candidates.
The poll of 1,000 likely Republican primary voters was conducted on Nov. 2. The margin of error is +/- 3 percent.
Rasmussen Reports released another poll on Thursday finding that President Barack Obama and Romney are in a dead heat in a possible general election match-up. Obama receives 42 percent, while Romney is right behind him with 41 percent.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters was taken from Nov. 1-2 and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
