Mitt Romney Leads the GOP 2012 Race in Florida

Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to prominent Democrats at the national level, released a poll on Wednesday that found that former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts was leading the Republican presidential pack in Florida.

Romney topped the poll with 30 percent while former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas placed second in the Sunshine State with 24 percent. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who represented Georgia in Congress, took third with 10 percent.

The rest of the field followed in single digits. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas took fourth place with 8 percent followed by businessman Herman Cain --who won the Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando on Saturday --with7 percent. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota placed sixth with 6 percent followed by former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah who has based his campaign in Orlando. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennyslvania took 2 percent and former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico trailed with 1 percent.

Florida is probably the most important state to Mitt Romneys hopes for winning the Republican nomination, said PPP President Dean Debnam in a statement on Wednesday. The fact that hes still leading there even after Perrys surge nationally bodes very well.

The poll of 472 usual Florida Republican primary voters was taken from Sept. 22-25 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.