A new American Research Group survey in Michigan shows Rick Santorum leading the GOP primary field with 33%, followed by Mitt Romney at 27%, Newt Gingrich at 21% and Ron Paul at 12%.
A Public Policy Polling survey finds Santorum with a huge lead over Romney, 39% to 24%, followed by Paul at 12% and Gingrich at 11%.
“Santorum’s rise is attributable to two major factors: his own personal popularity (a stellar 67/23 favorability) and GOP voters increasingly souring on Gingrich. Santorum’s becoming something closer and closer to a consensus conservative candidate as Gingrich bleeds support.”
Meanwhile, the Gallup daily tracking poll shows Romney just edging Santorum for the lead among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents nationally, 32% to 30%, with Newt Gingrich back at 16% and Ron Paul at just 8%.
A new Pew Research survey has Santorum just ahead of Romney, 30% to 28%, with Gingrich at 17% and Paul at 12%.
Also, Greg Sargent flags a striking finding in the new Pew Research poll:
In November, Mitt Romney was beating President Obama among independent voters, 53% to 41%. Now those numbers are upside down: Obama tops Romney among them, 51% to 42%. That’s a net 19 point swing of independents in Obama’s direction in three months.
