Jan 23, 2012

Gallup Poll: Romney, Gingrich in dead heat

By Catalina Camia, USA TODAY Updated 56m ago
Updated 4:02 p.m. ET

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are now locked in a dead heat in Gallup's daily tracking poll, which shows the former Massachusetts governor has essentially lost any national advantage he had before the South Carolina primary.

Romney now has the support of 29% of Republican registered voters to Gingrich's 28%, according to Gallup. The tracking poll is a five-day average and was taken Wednesday through Saturday, mostly before and a little after Gingrich's 12-point victory in the Palmetto State.

INTERACTIVE: Poll tracker

Ron Paul has 13% and Rick Santorum has 11%, according to Gallup.

Frank Newport, Gallup's editor in chief, had said last week that Romney's support was "collapsing." At the beginning of last week, Romney had a 23-percentage point lead over his rivals.

The daily tracking poll was updated at 1 p.m. ET, just hours before the GOP field meets in the first of two debates before the Florida primary. The one-point difference between Romney and Gingrich is within the poll's margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

Gallup Poll: Romney, Gingrich in dead heat