Mitt Romney may not be setting some conservative hearts a-flutter, but he’s inching closer to putting this one away in South Carolina. The new Rasmussen poll shows [1]:
The former Massachusetts governor now earns 35% support from likely South Carolina GOP Primary Voters, according to the latest telephone survey in the state. That’s up from 28% late last week. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich remains in second place with 21% of the vote, followed by former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, each with 16%. The vote totals for Gingrich, Santorum and Paul are unchanged from the previous survey.
Texas Governor Rick Perry runs last with five percent (5%) support, essentially unchanged from six percent (6%) last week. Huntsman, who announced Monday that he was quitting the race, picked up five percent (5%) in the previous survey.
The poll was conducted after Jon Huntsman withdrew from the race, but before the latest debate, in which Newt Gingrich earned kudos for another strong performance.