Santorum surges in latest Georgia poll

ATLANTA,None — A new poll shows Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is struggling in Georgia and Rick Santorum is closing in on Newt Gingrich less than a month before the state presidential primary.

A Landmark Communications/Rosetta Stone poll of Georgia Republican voters found Gingrich leads the GOP race with 35 percent, followed by Santorum with 26 percent, Romney with 16 percent and Ron Paul with 5 percent.

Santorum's surge in Georgia comes after he swept a series of contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado on Tuesday. The poll of 1,475 likely voters was taken the day after.

"The winner enjoys a 5- to 7-point bounce the day after to 48 hours then 72 to 96 hours. That evaporates unless there's something to sustain it, so it's been pop drop, pop drop almost all the way across this field," Channel 2 political analyst Bill Crane said.

Crane told Channel 2 political reporter Lori Geary it's crucial for Gingrich to win Georgia because he considers it home base, but Gingrich and Santorum will battle for the evangelical and tea party vote.

"The intangible thing you want more than anything in politics, more than money, more than organization is momentum. The key is having momentum at the right time," Crane said.

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Gingrich and Santorum won backing from Georgia Right to Life on Friday.

The poll showed about 18 percent of Georgian Republican voters remain undecided.

"I think it's going good. I think we're getting a lot of viewpoints," Republican voter Steve Balmes said.

"It doesn't seem like the Republicans seem all that enthused with any of their candidates," Democratic voter Steve Simonsen told Geary. "My vote is already in the White House. I'm watching with interest."

The state presidential primary is on March 6.

WSBTV