A new Rasmussen poll shows former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) matintaining a lead in the firm’s polling of Michigan ahead of the state’s February 28th primary. Santorum gets 38 percent, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney sees 34, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) gets ten and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at nine. From Rasmussen’s analysis:
Both Santorum and Romney are viewed favorably by 71% of likely Michigan primary voters, but Santorum draws Very Favorable reviews from 33% compared to Romney’s 24%. Gingrich is viewed favorably by 47% of Michigan primary voters, while 41% share a favorable opinion of Paul.
Male primary voters prefer Santorum over Romney 40% to 31%, while female voters are almost evenly divided between the two.
Santorum is way ahead of Romney among Evangelical Christian primary voters in Michigan, but Romney holds much narrower leads among other Protestants, Catholics and primary voters of other faiths.
Santorum trounces Romney among Very Conservative primary voters in Michigan, while Romney holds a four-point edge among those who describe themselves as Somewhat Conservative.
Among Tea Party voters, it’s Santorum 57%, Romney 23%. Primary voters who say they are not members of the grass roots movement prefer Romney 40% to 31%.
The current TPM Poll Average of the race shows Santorum with a small lead, as the race is essentially locked a week from the vote.
