The GOP’s current frontrunners, Mitt Romney and Herman Cain, appear to be running neck and neck in the Sunshine state.
According to a new Marist/NBC poll, Cain garners 32 percent support from Florida’s likely Republican voters while Romney holds 31 percent. The nearest Republican challenger, Texas Governor Rick Perry, comes in at 8 percent.
Florida holds special significance for Herman Cain’s campaign. After winning the state’s GOP straw poll, Cain saw a meteoric surge in the polls, ultimately jettisoning to top tier status. When a candidate in the 2008 campaign, Romney came in second in Florida, with approximately 31 percent of the vote.
The survey found that Cain predictably does better with conservative voters who identify themselves as members of the Tea Party. However, Republicans who don’t support the Tea Party, which Marist says makes up over 44 percent of the state’s Republicans, back Romney.
The poll was conducted among 2,520 likely Republican voters from October 10th through the 12th. It was released on Wednesday.
The full results can be read here.