Another day, another good round of polling news for Mike Huckabee. Two new PPP polls of West Virginia and North Carolina show the former Arkansas Governor with leads in both states’ Republican primary races.
In West Virginia, Huckabee leads the pack with 28%, followed by Sarah Palin at 25%, and Newt Gingrich at 17%. Mitt Romney trails badly at 10%, while Ron Paul (6%), Tim Pawlenty (5%), and Mitch Daniels (2%) bring up the rear.
Huckabee’s lead is larger in North Carolina, where he holds an nine-point edge on his closest rival. Twenty-seven percent of North Carolina Republicans said they wanted Huckabee as the party nominee, while 18% went for Gingrich, and 16% went for Palin. Romney placed fourth in that poll, as he did in West Virginia, coming in with 11%.
The results continue a trend of great news for Huckabee. He’s taken the top slot in a number of recent PPP polls, soaking up a huge portion of the conservative vote while still appealing to moderates. In North Carolina, 29% of conservatives and 21% of moderates picked Huckabee. Thirty-two percent of conservatives in West Virginia broke for Huckabee.
Meanwhile, the polls continue another trend of bad news for Romney, as they again show him struggling to win over conservatives, or to even compete in conservative-heavy southern states. While Huckabee won the support of 29% of North Carolina conservatives, Romney took in just 9% of that demographic’s support.
Conservatives typically turn out in force for the primaries, making them a critical bloc for presidential hopefuls. It’s troubling then for Romney that the latest national PPP poll found that only 50% of conservatives had a favorable opinion of him, compared to 63% who viewed Huckabee favorably, and 66% who said the same of Palin.
PPP surveyed 400 voters in North Carolina with margin of error of 4.9%, and 355 West Virginia voters with a margin of error of 5.2%. Both polls were conducted January 20-23.
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