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Poll: Romney Opening Lead In Florida

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – After Newt Gingrich's solid win in South Carolina, many expected for him to carry the momentum through Florida. But the latest polling is not showing Newt-mentum, but rather a Romney surge.

According to the latest Monmouth University poll, Romney currently has a seven point lead over Gingrich in the Sunshine State (39-32 percent). Rick Santorum comes in a distant third at 11 percent and Congressman Ron Paul is last at eight percent, in the Monmouth poll.

Breaking the numbers down further, men prefer Gingrich, while women overwhelmingly pick Romney. Voters over 65 choose Romney, while voters 18-44 lean slightly towards Gingrich.

Among those who support the tea party, support for the two leading candidates is split at 38 percent. But Romney destroys Gingrich amongst voters who either oppose or have no opinion on the tea party (42-18 percent).

Roughly 64 percent of those surveyed said that it would be a good idea for the eventual candidate to pick Senator Marco Rubio as their vice-presidential running mate.

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