Poll: Gingrich leads Romney in Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Likely Florida Republican primary voters said they preferred surging GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich to Mitt Romney, a Rasmussen Reports poll indicated.

Likely GOP primary voters said they preferred the former House speaker over the former Massachusetts governor 41 percent to 32 percent, results released Monday indicated. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania was third with 11 percent while Rep. Ron Paul of Texas received 8 percent.

Nine percent indicated they had no initial preference while 59 percent said they were certain of their vote, results indicated.

The poll also indicated 42 percent now think Gingrich, a Republican from Georgia, would be the strongest candidate against President Obama, while 39 percent said the same of Romney. Until now, Romney had been seen as the strongest candidate.

Results are based on telephone interviews with 750 likely Florida Republican primary voters conducted Sunday. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.