MANCHESTER, NH — The virtual tie between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in the Iowa caucuses appears to have catapulted both men to the top of the polls in South Carolina, whose January 21 primary is shaping up as a key contest in the Republican presidential race.

A poll released Friday morning by Scott Rasmussen shows Romney in the lead in South Carolina, with 27 percent, and Santorum a close second with 24 percent.