Poll: Romney Closes in on Santorum in Ohio

Updated: March 2, 2012 | 8:00 a.m.
March 2, 2012 | 7:24 a.m.

The race between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney is tightening in Ohio, Super Tuesday's most hotly contested race, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released early Friday.

Santorum now leads Romney, 35 percent to 31 percent, within the poll's margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at 17 percent, and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is at 12 percent. Six percent of likely voters are undecided, and, of those who said they prefer one of the candidates, more than a third said they might change their mind before next week's election.

In the most recent Quinnipiac poll, released Monday, Santorum held a slightly larger, seven-point lead over Romney.

Santorum runs best among men, conservatives, evangelicals, tea party supporters, those without a college degree, and younger voters. He leads Romney by six points among men, 13 points among conservatives, 17 points among white, born-again or evangelical Christians, and 17 points among tea party supporters.

Romney, on the other hand, runs best among women, moderates, those who don't support the tea party, voters with a college degree, and seniors. Romney holds a 13-point advantage among those aged 65 and older, leading Santorum, 40 percent to 27 percent. Among moderate voters, Romney leads by 20 points, 46 percent to 26 percent, and he also has a small, two-point lead among non-evangelical whites.

One oddity from the poll's crosstabs: Santorum leads Romney by nine percentage points among those voters whose household income exceeds $100,000 a year, 42 percent to 33 percent. Romney runs closest among those voters making less than $30,000 a year. Exit polls have consistently shown Romney running best among wealthier voters, and the previous Quinnipiac poll earlier this week showed the two frontrunners tied among those making more than $100,000.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted Feb. 29-Mar. 1, surveying 513 likely voters in Tuesday's GOP primary.

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