Newt Gingrich Leads Mitt Romney and Ron Paul in Florida

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich continues to enjoy a healthy lead over the rest of the field for the Republican presidential nomination in Florida according to a NBC/Marist poll released over the weekend. Gingrich takes 44 percent of likely Republican primary voters in the Sunshine State while former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts places second with 29 percent.

The rest of the the field follows in single digits. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas takes third with 8 percent followed by Gov. Rick Perry -- also of the Lone Star State -- with 4 percent. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and former Gov. Jon Huntsman take 3 percent each while former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania trails with 2 percent.

The poll of 469 likely Florida Republican primary voters was taken from Dec. 4-7 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.