While former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York City continues to hint at a second shot at the Republican presidential nomination, he can take some comfort in the results of a poll conducted by Opinion Research Corp. that showed him leading the Republican pack by the skin of his teeth.
Giuliani topped the poll with 16 percent, followed by former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts with 15 percent. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took third with 13 percent, with U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas at her heels with 12 percent. Businessman Herman Cain, a favorite of the tea party movement, placed fifth with 10 percent.
The rest of the field followed in single digits. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia took 8 percent while U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann placed seventh with 7 percent. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota took 5 percent. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania was in ninth place with 2 percent. Two candidates -- former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico and former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah -- had 1 percent each, while less than one-half of 1 percent backed former Gov. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana and activist Fred Karger.
With Giuliani out, Romney led with 19 percent, followed by Palin in second with 15 percent and Paul in third with 13 percent. Gingrich tied with Cain for fourth place with 11 percent. Bachmann remained at 7 percent, while her fellow Minnesotan Pawlenty also did not see any movement, staying at 5 percent. With Giuliani out, Huntsman jumped up to 3 percent while Santorum and Johnson stayed at 1 percent, where they were joined by Roemer. Karger remained with less than one-half of 1 percent.
When both Giuliani and Palin were taken out of the equation, Romney led with 21 percent with Paul in second at 15 percent. Cain placed third with 13 percent and Gingrich took fourth with 12 percent. With Palin out, Bachmann gained some momentum, moving up to 9 percent. Pawlenty remained at 5 percent and Huntsman stayed at 3 percent. Santorum moved up to 3 percent while Johnson took 2 percent. Roemer had 1 percent while Karger still trailed with less than one-half of 1 percent.
Asked if they wanted to see more candidates in the race, 61 percent said they were very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the current field, while 39 percent said they were not very satisfied or not satisfied at all with the pack. A plurality -- 48 percent -- wanted to see U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., jump into the race while 43 percent did not. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey received mixed marks, with 45 percent wanting to see him run and the same number wanting him to stay in Trenton. Half of those surveyed -- 50 percent -- did not want Gov. Rick Perry of Texas to run, while 40 percent hoped he entered the race. (Perry opened the door to running on Friday.) Of those surveyed, 58 percentdid not want former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida to run, while 39 percent wanted him to follow in his fathers and brothers footsteps.
The poll of 473 Republicans was taken May 24-26 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
