MANCHESTER, NH — A new Rasmussen poll has Mitt Romney moving into an imposing 26-point lead before next Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. The survey pegs Romney at 42 percent, with Ron Paul in second place at 18 percent, Rick Santorum on the rise but still far behind at 13 percent, and Jon Huntsman at 12 percent.
The poll shows a precipitous decline in support for Newt Gingrich, who last month was at 22 percent in Rasmussen’s survey — and is now at eight percent. Rick Perry, who is essentially skipping New Hampshire, is at one percent.
Romney’s lead seems particularly secure because voters in New Hampshire, unlike those in Iowa in the days before that state’s caucuses, seem to have made up their minds. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed told Rasmussen they are certain of how they will vote. Most of those already-decided voters support Romney.
“Romney is far and away the best-liked of the GOP presidential hopefuls as far as New Hampshire primary voters are concerned,” writes Rasmussen. “Seventy-two percent have a favorable opinion of the former governor from neighboring Massachusetts. Fifty-three percent have favorable views of both Santorum and Huntsman. Most primary voters share a more unfavorable opinion than favorable one of the other candidates — Paul, Perry and Gingrich — in the race.”
