With only days to go until the Iowa caucus on Tuesday, three polls released on Thursday found the first formal contest between the Republican presidential hopefuls is very close -- with former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania entering the muddled picture. Santorum had been pulling in single digits in the Hawkeye State in most polls taken in 2011.
A poll from American Research Group (ARG) found that former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts leads the pack in the Hawkeye State with 22 percent, followed by former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 17 percent and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas with 16 percent.
Santorum, who has won the backing of many prominent Iowa conservatives and campaigned in every county in the state, breaks double digits with 11 percent.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry stands in fifth with 9 percent followed by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota with 8 percent. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah takes 6 percent, followed by former Gov. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana with 1 percent. Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, who announced this week that he was seeking the Libertarian nomination, takes less than 1 percent of the vote.
The poll of 600 likely Iowa Republican caucus participants was taken from Dec. 26-28 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Santorum does even better in a poll from Rasmussen Reports released on Thursday. Romney leads with 23 percent with Paul on his tail with 22 percent. Santorum takes third with 16 percent followed by Gingrich and Perry who are knotted together in fourth place with 13 percent apiece. The survey of 750 likely Iowa Republican caucus participants was taken on Dec. 28 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Insider Advantage also released an Iowa poll on Thursday which found a close race between Romney and Paul tied at the top with 17 percent followed by Gingrich with 16 percent, Santorum with 13 percent, Bachmann with 12 percent and Perry with 11 percent. Huntsman trails far behind with 3 percent. The poll of 429 likely Iowa Republican caucus participants was taken on Dec. 28.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
