Romney in Nevada: Romney takes big lead in Nevada, poll shows

Poll: Romney’s big lead in Nevada
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Posted by
CNN Producer Gabriella Schwarz
(CNN) – Mitt Romney has opened a double digit lead over rival New Gingrich in Nevada, according to a new poll of likely Republican caucus-goers.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal and 8NewsNow poll released Thursday showed Romney with 45% support followed by Gingrich with 25%, Rick Santorum with 11% and Ron Paul with 9%.

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Gingrich, the former House speaker, led among those who “strongly support” the tea party movement with 37% compared with Romney’s 27%, Santorum’s 20% and Paul’s 9%. But Romney took the lead among those who said they “somewhat support” the grassroots movement and from those who support it “only a little.”

Romney also received considerable backing from members of the Church of Latter-day Saints, of which he is a member. Eighty-six percent of likely Mormon caucus attendees supported Romney, while the remaining candidates received less than 5%.

The former Massachusetts governor carried the voting bloc with 95% of their vote during his first White House bid in 2008, when Mormons made up 26% of GOP caucus-goers. He won the caucuses that year with 51.1% of the vote. Paul came in second with 13.7% support. President Barack Obama went on to capture the state in the general election with 55.1% of the vote.

The four current Republican presidential contenders are in the Silver State ahead of Saturday’s caucuses.

The new survey, which questioned 426 Republican voters, was taken between Friday and Tuesday, before Romney’s Florida primary win. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 4.75 percentage points.