Two new polls of Wisconsin and Maryland from Public Policy Polling (D) show Republican voters set to choose former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ahead of the states’ Republican primaries set for Tuesday, April 3rd. Romney leads former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in both states, by seven in Wisconsin (43 – 36) and 25 in Maryland (52 – 27). Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) are well behind Romney and Santorum in both states.
“Increasingly Mitt Romney is eating into Rick Santorum’s base,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling in a release. “That would seem to be a sign GOP voters are ready for this race to be over.” From PPP’s analysis:
The only thing keeping Santorum competitive in Wisconsin is the state’s open primary. He actually trails Romney 50-36 with Republican voters but 40% of those saying they’re likely to vote are either independents or Democrats and with those folks Santorum leads 37-32, making it more competitive overall. If those non-Republicans don’t actually end up turning out Romney can expect to win by a wider margin.
Among voters who decided ‘in the last few days,’ 9% of the Wisconsin electorate, Santorum leads Romney 52-27. That makes you wonder whether Paul Ryan’s late endorsement of Romney was much of a game changer.
