With three weeks to go until the Iowa caucus, a new poll finds that former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich is leading in the Hawkeye State with former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas right on his tail.
Beating the field with registered Republicans, definite caucus voters and supporters of the tea party movement, Gingrich leads the new American Research Group poll of likely Republican caucus voters with 22 percent.
Paul, who took a strong second in the Iowa Republican straw poll in August, and Romney are tied for second place with 17 percent each. Paul leads with independents who are likely to vote in the Iowa Republican caucus and with probable caucus participants.
With a barrage of new ads and continuing to focus on his social conservatism, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is also still in the mix in Iowa with 13 percent -- a drastic improvement from his standing in an ARG poll of Iowa taken in November.
The rest of the field lags in single digits. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who won the straw poll in August, is now tied with former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania for fifth place with 7 percent. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah, who has largely ignored Iowa to focus on New Hampshire, takes 5 percent. Two other candidates who have largely ignored Iowa to campaign in New Hampshire -- former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico and former Gov. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana -- take less than 1 percent in the poll. Twelve percent of those surveyed remain undecided and 1 percent back other candidates.
In an ARG poll of Iowa taken in November, Gingrich led with 27 percent followed by Romney with 20 percent and Paul with 16 percent. Perry, who had taken 14 percent in July before he announced his bid, lagged behind with 5 percent -- behind Bachmann and Santorum.
The poll of 600 likely Republican Iowa caucus voters -- 505 registered Republicans and 95 voters with no party affiliation -- was taken Dec. 8-11 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
