Gingrich leads Romney in Va. survey

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich holds a narrow lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney among Republican presidential primary voters in Virginia heading into 2012, a new poll shows.

Gingrich leads Romney 30 percent to 25 percent with no other GOP candidate breaking single digits, according to the Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

The last time Quinnipiac University polled in Virginia, in October, Gingrich had only 7 percent support. Romney's stock has risen also, from 21 percent to 25 percent.

"As is the case across the country, Gingrich has come out of nowhere," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Gingrich will be in the Richmond area this morning attending a fundraising breakfast for the Republican Party of Virginia at the Hilton Richmond Hotel/Short Pump.

Gingrich diverted to Virginia ahead of today's 5 p.m. deadline for candidates to qualify for the state's March 6 primary ballot. In Virginia, presidential candidates must submit to the State Board of Elections the signatures of 10,000 registered voters — including at least 400 from each of the 11 congressional districts.

"The challenge for us is to get the popular support organized fast enough," Gingrich told reporters in Davenport, Iowa, on Monday, according to The Caucus, a New York Times political blog. "We may barely make it Thursday in Virginia."

As of Wednesday evening, Romney and President Barack Obama had filed their signatures to qualify for Virginia's primary ballot.

While Gingrich is more popular than Romney among Virginia Republicans, Romney fares better among all Virginia voters in a head-to-head match-up with Obama, with 44 percent to the president's 42 percent, which is within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. Gingrich trails the president, 46 percent to 41 percent.

A majority of Republican voters also say that Romney would do a better job than Gingrich of handling the economy. But Gingrich is seen as a stronger leader, better on foreign policy and better credentialed for the job of president. The Republican-only portions of the poll have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The problem for Gingrich is his crossover appeal, or lack thereof. While he's viewed more favorably than Romney among Republicans, he has less appeal to the general electorate, including independents.

Obama's approval rating in the state is underwater, with 51 percent disapproving of the job he's doing; 42 percent approve. Fifty-three percent say he does not deserve a second term.

And voters say both Romney and Gingrich would better handle the nation's weakened economy, with Romney polling ahead of Obama on the economy 46 percent to 41 percent and Gingrich 45 percent to 43 percent.

"In 2008, President Obama was the first Democrat to carry Virginia since 1964. To do it again in 2012, he'll need to improve his current standing among Virginians," Brown said.

Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has not endorsed a candidate, plans to stop by the state GOP fundraiser in Short Pump. McDonnell has met with a number of other GOP candidates as they passed through Virginia, including Romney, Perry, Jon Huntsman and then-candidate Tim Pawlenty.

The presidential voting kicks off Jan. 3 in Iowa, where Gingrich appears to have lost his front-runner status amid a barrage of negative ads by Romney, Perry and Rep. Ron Paul.

According to the Quinnipiac survey, Virginia's high-profile U.S. Senate race, expected to be between former governors and current front-runners George Allen and Timothy M. Kaine, remains too close to call.

The poll shows Allen, a Republican, at 44 percent and Kaine, a Democrat, at 42 percent, but the difference is within the poll's margin of error.

It's the fourth Quinnipiac University poll showing the race deadlocked.

The poll of 1,135 registered voters was conducted Dec. 13 through Dec. 19. The poll included 489 Republicans.