Move over, Mitt and Herman. Here comes Newt.
Two national polls released Friday showed that former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has broken into the top tier of candidates in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
While his campaign was plagued with stumbles and staff defections earlier in 2011, Gingrich has been building momentum in recent weeks after a series of strong debate performances.
A national poll from CBS News found businessman Herman Cain remains in front with 18 percent, with Gingrich and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts right behind him with 15 percent each. The poll of 382 likely Republican primary voters -- part of a sample of 1,029 registered voters -- was taken Nov. 6-10 and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percent.
But another national poll released -- this one from McClatchy-Marist -- found Romney ahead of the pack, with Gingrich in second and Cain, who has been fighting accusations of sexual harassment, in third place.
The McClatchy-Marist poll has Romney on top, taking 23 percent, followed by Gingrich with 19 percent. Cain takes third with 17 percent while U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas takes fourth with 10 percent.
The rest of the pack trails in single digits. Texas Gov. Rick Perry comes in fifth place with 8 percent, followed by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota who garners 5 percent. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah lag behind with 1 percent each.
The McClatchy-Marist poll of 347 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents was taken from Nov. 8-10 and had a margin of error of +/- 5.5 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
