Rick Santorum Continues to Lead Mitt Romney in Michigan

A fourth poll finds that Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum leads the GOP pack in Michigan, which holds its primary on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

Santorum tops a Mitchell/Rosetta Stone poll taken by Michigan Information & Research Service with 34 percent. Mitt Romney, who won the Michigan primary in 2008 and whose father served as governor of the Great Lakes State during the 1960s, places second with 25 percent. Ron Paul comes in third with 11 percent followed by Newt Gingrich with 5 percent. Twenty-five percent of those surveyed are undecided.

Earlier in the month -- before Santorums wins in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri -- Romney led a Mitchell/Rosetta Stone poll of Michigan with 31 percent, followed by Gingrich with 16 percent and Paul and Santorum knotted together with 15 percent each.

Santorums strong showing on Feb. 7 has turned this volatile race upside down in Michigan, said Steve Mitchell, the president of Mitchell Research & Communications. Mitt Romney has dropped 6 percent, Santorum has jumped 18 percent, while Newt Gingrichs support has collapsed. Santorum has staked a lot in going after Romney in his home state, and so far the gamble is paying off. Conservatives are uniting behind Santorum and abandoning Gingrich. Now, we will have to see if Santorum has the financial resources to compete against Romneys big money in the state in which he was born and raised.

The poll of 455 likely Michigan Republican primary voters was taken Feb. 14 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.6 percent.