Rick Perry Beats Mitt Romney in Fox News Poll

A Fox News Poll, conducted by Anderson Robbins Research and Shaw & Company Research and unveiled late on Thursday, revealed that Gov. Rick Perry of Texas held a solid lead over former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Perry topped the poll with 29 percent followed by Romney with 22 percent.Congressman Ron Paul of Texas and Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota tied for third with 8 percent each. Businessman Herman Cain placed fifth followed by former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania in sixth with 4 percent. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich took seventh with 3 percent. Two former governors -- Jon Huntsman of Utah and Buddy Roemer of Louisiana -- tied for eighth with 1 percent each. Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, activist Fred Karger and U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter of Michigan garnered less than 1 percent.

When other candidates -- including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- were added to the mix, Perry remained in the lead. Both Palin and Giuliani have left the door open to running for the Republican presidential nomination.

Perry led that scenario with 26 percent followed by Romney with 18 percent. Palin took third with 8 percent followed by Paul with 7 percent. Bachmann fell to a tie with Giuliani and Cain for fifth place with 4 percent. Gingrich and Santorum took 3 percent each. Huntsman and Johnson were still tied with 1 percent, where they were joined by Johnson. Karger, McCotter and former Alabama state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore took less than 1 percent.

The poll of 341 Republican primary voters was taken from Aug. 29-31 and had a margin of error of +/- 5.5 percent.