Poll: Tough Road Ahead For Romney

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Mitt Romney might want to relish his likely victory in Florida because he has trouble ahead of him in Missouri and Ohio.

According to a new Public Policy Polling poll, Romney is trailing Newt Gingrich 30-24 among likely Missouri caucus voters. Sandwiched in between Romney and Gingrich is Rick Santorum who polled at 28 percent in Missouri's caucus.

Missouri is voting in both a caucus and primary this year. The primary election won't select the candidate the state is giving delegate to because Missouri was going to be penalized for moving its state election up this year.

Instead, the Missouri caucus will select which 2012 GOP delegates are given to each candidate.

In a head-to-head matchup, Gingrich would beat Romney by a 43-42 percent margin, while Santorum would beat Romney 50-37 percent. The reason is more Gingrich voters would support Santorum than vice-versa.

The primary in Missouri is set for Tuesday, while caucuses in the state will be held on March 17.

In Ohio, which will hold its primary on Super Tuesday, March 6th, Santorum has a much higher favorability rating than either Romney or Gingrich. In a three-way race, Gingrich has 26 percent of the vote, to Romney's 25 percent, and Santorum's 22 percent.

If it was a head-to-head matchup between Gingrich and Romney, the former speaker would win 42-39 percent. In a similar matchup, Santorum would beat Romney 45-38 percent.