Gingrich Pulls Ahead in Gallup’s Net Favorability Ratings

For the first time, Newt Gingrich has moved into first place in Gallup’s net favorability ratings. Here are the candidates’ respective tallies among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents:

1. Newt Gingrich, +44 percent (68 percent favorable, 24 percent unfavorable)
2. Mitt Romney, +42 percent (67 to 25 percent)
3. Rick Santorum, +31 percent (58 to 27 percent)
4. Herman Cain, +28 percent (60 to 32 percent)
5. (tie) Michele Bachmann, +21 percent (56 to 35 percent)
5. (tie) Ron Paul, +21 percent (56 to 35 percent)
5. (tie) Rick Perry, +21 percent (55 to 34 percent)
8. Jon Huntsman, +15 percent (49 to 34 percent) 

Gingrich has also pulled ahead for the first time in Gallup’s Positive Intensity Score, which reflects a candidate’s net favorability rating among those who have a “strongly favorable” or “strongly unfavorable view” of the candidate. Gingrich has a Positive Intensity Score of +20 (24 percent of Republicans or Republican-leaning independents have a “strongly favorable” opinion of him, while 4 percent have a “strongly unfavorable opinion). That’s up 7 points from early October (when his score was +13), making Gingrich the only GOP presidential candidate whose score has improved over that span. Here are the candidates’ current Positive Intensity Scores:

1. Gingrich, +20 — up 7 points from early October
2. Cain, +14 — down 20 points
3. Romney, +11 — down 4 points
4. Santorum, +6 — down 4 points
5. (tie) Paul, +2 — even
5. (tie) Perry, +2 — down 2 points
7. Bachmann, +1 — down 3 points
8. Huntsman, -2 — down 3 points 

Gallup shows that each candidate’s name-recognition is now between 80 and 90 percent, with the exception of Santorum and Huntsman, whose names were recognized by fewer than 60 percent of respondents (fewer than 50 percent in Huntsman’s case). But as the above numbers indicate, Santorum is doing relatively well with those who are familiar with him.