(CNN) - It's the state where Mitt Romney grew up and where his father served as governor in the 1960's, but a new poll in Michigan indicates that Rick Santorum is on top in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
According to an American Research Group survey released Monday, 33% of likely Michigan GOP primary voters say they are backing Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, with 27% supporting Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. Twenty-one percent are backing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 12% are supporting Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and 6% are undecided. Santorum's advantage is technically within the poll's sampling error.
Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
Michigan and Arizona are next up in the primary and caucus calendar, with both states holding primaries on February 28. The 30 delegates up for grabs in Michigan will be divided proportionally, while the 29 delegates at stake in Arizona are winner take all.
Romney won the 2008 Republican contest in Michigan, edging out eventual GOP nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona by nine points. But four years later, the Santorum campaign feels they can be competitive in Michigan, as well as Ohio, which votes on Super Tuesday on March 6. Both states are considered part of the Rust Belt, with larger working class populations and strong Catholic communities, which may favor Santorum over Romney.
According to the poll, 37% of self-described supporters of the tea party movement say they support Santorum, with 29% backing Gingrich, 17% supporting Romney and 11% backing Paul. Among people who are not backers of the tea party, or who are unsure about the movement, 35% back Romney, with Santorum at 30%, Gingrich at 14% and Paul at 13%.
The survey indicates that Santorum edges out Romney 33%-28% among male voters, with Romney topping Santorum 39%-33% among female voters.
The American Research Group poll was conducted February 11-12, with 600 likely Michigan GOP primary voters questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.
Also see:
Romney wins mask lingering questions about his candidacy
Santorum: 'This is a two-person race'
From CNN Politics
© 2011 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Contact us | Work for us | Help
I wonder how Paul (who might have been denied a victory in Maine) and Gingrich feel about losing ground to these two?
Rmoney has no chance in Michigan. He abandoned the state years ago and rarely returned. He abandoned the state again when he opposed the auto bailouts, which are quite popular here. Sure, he's popular with the GOBP elitists running their deathcult scam. With rank and file voters, though, not so much.
Good on Santorum. Did Romney think he could get away with telling the American people he would have let the auto industry die? Good grief, he's not a very smart politician, even with all that education, is he? And of course that poor people comment didn't help, either.
BlindChange – those numbers do add up when you're talking about just taking a small sampling into consideration, and only from those who self-identify as Republicans. You have to know the specifics of the poll, first and foremost how many people were actually questioned, and how they were questioned. That's how polls work.
Jariv
Santorum will not bring change to Washington. We need an outsider with leadership skills. Romney is the man to do
Why ? Because you say so Jariv ? Romney is an outsider alright, he is clueless how the majority of Americans live their daily lives and that is why he would lose Michigan in the general election. The people will decide Jariv
Annie, I am not talking about sampling issues. What I am saying is that you cannot take two groups – males at 28% and females at 39%, mix them together and get an average less than 28, unless some of the people refused to identify if they were male or female. Even then, considering there are more females than males, I would expect it to average around 33-34%, unless the poll was flawed.
From the poll it appears that Willard is not as loved in Michigan as he believes he is.
"ro-money, ro-money, ro-money............whatcha gonna do when they come for you........."
Teeheee. Who let the clowns out? Who? Who Who Who Who?