Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has overcome former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s post-South Carolina surge to regain his lead in Florida, according to two new polls released on Thursday.
Rasmussen and Insider Advantage conducted polls on Wednesday, Jan. 25, both of which found Romney 8 points ahead of the former speaker of the House. Rasmussen found Romney at 39 percent and Gingrich at 31 percent. Rick Santorum is at 12 percent and Ron Paul is at 9 percent. Neither one is campaigning heavily in the state.
Insider Advantage’s numbers are similar, with Romney at 40 percent and Gingrich at 32 percent. In that poll, Paul is at 9 percent and Santorum is at 8 percent.
Romney leads Gingrich among women — perhaps in part due to Gingrich’s much publicized marital infidelities — taking 44 percent of the vote, while Gingrich takes 28 percent, according to Rasmussen. He also leads among Hispanics, 66 percent to 34 percent, according to Insider Advantage. The two candidates have been warring over this demographic in ads over the past two days.
The former Massachusetts governor also sports an advantage among Floridians who have already voted early, according to Rasmussen. Among early voters polled, 41 percent said they supported Romney, while just 28 percent said they supported Gingrich. This could be a big help to Romney, who had a strong lead in the polls prior to Gingrich’s South Carolina victory.
Floridians still consider Romney more electable than Gingrich, and a majority said they expected him to win the Republican nomination.
