Newt Gingrich Closes in on Mitt Romney in New Hampshire

Now leading the pack of Republican presidential candidates in national polls, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has surged in the early key states.

A Magellan Strategies poll for the New Hampshire Journal released on Friday found that Gingrich is now on the heels of former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts in the Granite State. Romney has been leading in polls of the first primary state throughout the year.

Romney leads the poll with 29 percent followed by Gingrich with 27 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul stands in third with 16 percent followed by businessman Herman Cain with 10 percent. Gingrich was in third place with 10 percent while Romney led with 41 percent in a New Hampshire Journal poll taken back in October.

Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah stands in fifth with 8 percent followed by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachamann of Minnesota and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas who are tied with 2 percent each. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania lags behind with 1 percent.

The poll of 746 likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters was taken from Nov. 15-16 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.59 percent.