Ohio Poll: Santorum 42, Romney 24

When the boss called in late yesterday from Columbus, Ohio, where he gave a speech and had a couple meetings, he said he was struck how light support seemed to be for Mitt Romney—and how receptive people seemed to be toward Rick Santorum. Rasmussen's latest poll seems to confirm the boss's general impressions, as it shows an enermous uptick of support for Santorum:

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum continues to ride his polling momentum into Ohio where he leads Mitt Romney by nearly two-to-one in the first Rasmussen Reports survey of Republicans in the state.

The new statewide telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary voters shows Santorum picking up 42% of the vote to Romney’s 24%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich draws 13% support, while Texas Congressman Ron Paul picks up 10%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and eight percent (8%) are undecided. 

This Ohio survey of 750 Likely Republican Primary Voters was conducted on February 15, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. 

The poll taken of Ohio Republican voters prior to this one was by Quinnipiac, almost half a week ago, which found Santorum leading by 7 percentage points, with 36 percent of support. In that poll, Romney had support from 29 percent and Gingrich 20 percent. The Ohio primary is on Super Tuesday, March 6.