While some recent polls had shown Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich closing in on rival Mitt Romney in Florida's upcoming Republican primary, the results of a Quinnipiac University poll released Friday showed that Romney has once again opened up a sizable lead in the Sunshine State.
The poll showed that 38 percent of Republican likely primary voters support Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, while 29 percent support Gingrich, the former House Speaker.
Romney's nine-point advantage in the latest poll compares to the just two-point lead he had over Gingrich in a separate Quinnipiac poll conducted just a few days before.
The latest poll showed Texas Congressman Ron Paul in a distant third at 14 percent, while former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum came in fourth at 12 percent.
Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said, "Speaker Newt Gingrich's momentum from his South Carolina victory appears to have stalled and Gov. Mitt Romney seems to be pulling away in Florida."
However, reflecting the considerable volatility of the race, the poll found that 32 percent of likely voters might change their mind before the election on Tuesday.
Brown noted that there is time for another reversal but added, "With the debates now over, Gingrich will need some other way to reverse the tide that appears to be going against him."
The poll was conducted before last night's CNN debate, where Romney turned in a strong performance against Gingrich but didn't do as well defending Massachusetts' health care law.
The survey of 580 Republican likely primary voters was conducted January 24th through 26th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
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