Move Over Mitt Romney! Rick Perry's Now the Republican Front-runner

According to three polls released this week, there is a new front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination: Gov. Rick Perry of Texas.

A poll taken by YouGov for the Economist found Perry taking 23 percent of voters surveyed. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who had been the leading candidate in the race until the Texas governor jumped in earlier in the month, was in second with 15 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas took third with 11 percent.

The rest of the field trailed in single digits. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who won the Iowa straw poll in Ames earlier in the month, took fourth with 9 percent, followed by businessman Herman Cain with 8 percent. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has yet to enter the race, took sixth with 6 percent. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is also still on the sidelines, tied former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia with 4 percent. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania trailed with 2 percent each.

The poll, part of a sample of 1,000 registered voters, had a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percent and was taken from Aug. 20-23.

Perry also led a Gallup poll released on Wednesday, taking 25 percent, followed by Romney with 14 percent. Palin and Paul tied for third with 11 percent,followed by Giuliani with 9 percent and Bachmann with 7 percent. Cain took 4 percent, while Gingrich and Santorum were knotted together in seventh with 3 percent each. Huntsman lagged behind with 1 percent.

When Palin and Giuliani were taken out of the mix, Perrys lead increased marginally. The Texas governor led that scenario with 27 percent followed by Romney with 17 percent and Paul with 13 percent. Bachmann took fourth in that scenario with 10 percent, while Gingrich moved up to tie Cain in fifth with 4 percent. Santorum remained at 3 percent while Huntsman continued to garner 1 percent.

The Gallup poll of 1,040 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents was taken from Aug. 17-21 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.

Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm aligned with top Democrats, released a national poll this week that found Perry leading Romney by 10 points when Palin was included in the race and 13 points when she left out. PPP also released a poll on Iowa, which will hold the first caucus, that showed Perry leading there.