Mitt Romney Ahead in Rick Santorum's Home State of Pennsylvania

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has taken the lead in Rick Santorums home state of Pennsylvania according to a poll released Thursday from Public Policy Polling, a firm with connections to many prominent Democrats.

Romney leads the poll of likely Pennsylvania Republican primary voters with 42 percent, followed by Santorum with 37 percent. Ron Paul takes third with 9 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich with 6 percent.

The momentum in Pennsylvania is moving completely against Rick Santorum, said Dean Debnam, president of PPP. Mitt Romney has a great chance to deliver a final crushing blow to his campaign on April 24. A home state loss would be incredibly embarrassing for Santorum.

The poll of 403 likely Pennsylvania Republican primary voters was taken on April 4 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent.