A new poll of Florida Republicans foundbusinessman Herman Cain leading the pack of GOP presidential candidates in Florida with the strong backing of supporters of the tea party movement. Florida Republicans who did not identify themselves as tea party supporters broke toward former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.
A poll unveiled by the American Research Group (ARG) on Thursday found Cain, who won the Presidency 5 straw poll last month in Orlando, now led in Florida among likely primary voters with 34 percent followed by Romney, who placed second in the 2008 Florida presidential primary, with 28 percent. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich placed third with 11 percent.
The rest of the field lagged behind in single digits. Despite finishing second in the Presidency 5 straw poll, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas took fourth with 5 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas placed fifth in the Sunshine State with 4 percent followed by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota with 3 percent. Three candidates -- former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah, former Gov. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania -- tied for seventh with 1 percent. Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico received less than 1 percent.
The battle in Florida has changed dramatically in recent months. In an ARG poll of Florida taken in July, Cain placed fifth. Perry, who had not yet announced his candidacy, led with 16 percent followed by Bachmann and Romney who were tied for second with 15 percent. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who announced earlier in October that she was not running, took fourth with 11 percent followed by Cain with 11 percent.
Cain was helped by strong support from Florida Republicans who support the tea party movement -- and the poll found that 55 percent of those surveyed backed it. Cain led tea party supporters with 43 percent followed by Romney with 19 percent. Taking 12 percent, Gingrich stood in third among tea party supporters. Perry placed fifth with 5 percent followed by Bachmann and Paul who were knotted together with 4 percent each. Santorum garnered the backing of 1 percent of tea party supporters while Huntsman, Johnson and Roemer took less than 1 percent.
Among the 45 percent of Florida Republicans who did not identify themselves as supporters of the tea party, Romney led with 38 percent followed by Cain at 23 percent. Gingrich took third with 9 percent followed by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who announced earlier in the month that he is not running. Perry came next with 5 percent and Paul with 4 percent. Bachmann, Huntsman and Roemer were tied with 2 percent each and Santorum continued with 1 percent. Johnson lagged behind again with less than 1 percent.
The poll of 600 likely Republican primary voters living in Florida was taken Oct. 7-12 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.