Now in the home stretch, as the contestants jockey around for the support of Ohio's GOP voters, the match-up is getting a little more interesting.
Over the last couple weeks, we've seen former Senator Rick Santorum track ahead of fellow hopeful Mitt Romney. Now, the latest polling shows Romney's been able to hack down his rival's lead to within striking distance. In fact, the two candidates are now polling within the margin of error, meaning the whole casserole is up for grabs.
The Plain Dealer reports the latest Quinnipiac numbers: Santorum 35, Romney 31 percent.
The new poll has Newt Gingrich at 17 percent and Ron Paul at 12 percent.A third of the 517 likely Republican primary voters who were polled said they still might change their minds.
One thing stands out clearly: Conservative Republicans still prefer Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. Santorum leads Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, among self-described conservatives by 13 points. And Santorum leads Romney among Tea Party members by 17 points.
Romney leads among self-described moderates by 20 points, the Quinnipiac poll shows.
