Super Tuesday could shaping up as a good day for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney if he wins the Ohio primary. And two polls shows him picking up steam:
GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has pulled into a statistical dead heat with rival Rick Santorum in Ohio, two new polls find.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday shows Romney and Santorum tied with 32 percent support from likely GOP voters in Ohio, two days ahead of that state’s crucial Republican primary. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich follows with 17 percent support, trailed by Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) at 6 percent.
Santorum still holds an edge in the NBC News/Marist poll, but within that survey’s margin of error. That poll finds Santorum has the support of 34 percent of likely GOP voters in the state, ahead of Romney at 32 percent. NBC/Marist finds House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 15 percent support, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 13 percent.
Ohio is one of 10 states voting on “Super Tuesday.”
“This race could really go either way between now and Tuesday,” Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson said in a report from Reuters.
“If Mitt Romney is able to close this out and win this race, that gives him a leg up in going all the way to the convention and winning the Republican nomination,” he added.
“I just think it’s going to very close,” said Marist College Institute for Public Opinion Director Lee Miringoff, in a statement.
If Romney loses Ohio, then expect this race to go on more intently for several more months. If he win’s, punditry will pronounce him solidly on track to win the nomination.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.