Gingrich’s Lead Balloons from 1 to 15 Points in Gallup

Gallup’s polling of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents now shows Newt Gingrich with a 15-point lead over runner-up Mitt Romney — 37 to 22 percent. In the previous Gallup poll, taken three weeks ago, Gingrich led Romney by just 1 point — 22 to 21 percent. Gingrich appears to have acquired nearly all of the 16 percent support that Herman Cain had in the last poll, as the rest of the GOP field has collectively moved up only 3 percentage points in Cain’s absence.

No other candidate has double-digit support in Gallup’s polling, which screened for registered voters. Ron Paul has 8 percent support, Rick Perry 7, Michele Bachmann 6, Rick Santorum 3, and Jon Huntsman 1.