Rick Santorum Rises as Newt Gingrich Fades in Louisiana Poll

Louisiana, which will have 46 delegates at the Republican convention in Tampa come August, holds its presidential primary on Saturday and Rick Santorum has an impressive lead in the Pelican State.

A Rasmussen Reports poll of likely Louisiana Republican primary voters unveiled on Thursday finds Santorum ahead of the pack with 43 percent while Mitt Romney places second with 31 percent. Newt Gingrich places third with 16 percent and Ron Paul trails with 5 percent, while 5 percent are undecided and 1 percent back other candidates.

The poll of 750 likely Louisiana GOP primary voters was taken on March 21 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.

This poll is bad news for Gingrich who has won two states in the South -- his home base of Georgia and South Carolina. A poll from Magellan Strategies released earlier in the week showed Santorum leading in Louisiana with 31 percent while Gingrich and Romney tied for second with 24 percent apiece.