Ron Paul Moves into First Place with Newt Gingrich in Latest Iowa Poll

Republican Presidntial candidate Ron Paul of Texas is now tied with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the latest Public Policy Polling poll of Iowa GOP caucusgoers. Mr. Paul garnered 21 percent of the votes to pull even with Mr. Gingrich who earned 22 percent of the votes. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney took third place with 16 percent of the votes.

This is the first Iowa poll to show Mr. Paul in a statistical tie with Mr. Gingrich. Mr. Paul has finished in front of, even with or behind Mr. Romney, but has never tied with the Georgia businessman.

“Newt Gingrich’s momentum is fading in Iowa,” President of Public Policy Polling Dean Debnam said in a PPP press release. “Meanwhile Ron Paul is building an unusual coalition of support for a Republican primary. The big question is: will they really turn out?”

The Paul campaign is doing everything in its power to ensure that this “unusual coalition of support” will turn out for the Iowa GOP caucuses on January 3rd. The Paul campaign has organized a “Christmas Vacation with Ron Paul” program that will deploy 500 youth in Iowa to knock on doors and make phone calls for the Texas congressman.

The Paul campaign has also launched a $1 million ad buy in Iowa. The ad blitz features radio, TV and mail ads. Many of the ads focus on Mr. Paul’s chief rival in Iowa, Mr. Gingrich.

By:  Brent Bateman