Santorum holds lead in Ohio poll

February 28, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS

With a week left before Ohio’s presidential primary, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is maintaining his lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

But close to half of the registered voters surveyed over the past week by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute said they might change their mind.

“A week out, Sen. Rick Santorum remains seven points ahead among Ohio’s likely Republican primary voters,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the polling institute, said in a released statement. “While almost half the voters say they might change their mind, Santorum supporters seem a little surer of their vote.”

Connecticut-based Quinnipiac regularly gauges Ohioans’ views of candidates and issues. For it latest poll, it questioned 847 likely Republican voters about their primary leanings. The results have a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

As was the case in its poll released earlier this month, Santorum remained the top choice among GOP candidates, with 36 percent of respondents backing him.

Romney was second with 29 percent, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (17 percent) and Texas Congressman Ron Paul (11 percent).

Brown told reporters Monday that today’s primary in Michigan likely will affect Ohio’s outcome next week.

“Obviously, if Santorum wins in Michigan, it will make him a much stronger candidate here and would probably help his margin,” he said. “On the other hand, if Romney’s able to pull out Michigan and the polls have him leading by double digits in Arizona, it would give him some impetus to come in here. … I’m skeptical about momentum, but it is true that Michigan and Ohio are very similar. … The effect here might be greater than it’s been in some other states.”

The poll was released on the same day that Romney picked up the endorsement of a top Statehouse Republican.

“Ohio needs a bold leader who will restore our economy and bring jobs back to our state,” Senate President Tom Niehaus said in a released statement. “Mitt Romney is that man, and I am proud to support him.”