Poll: Gingrich opens big lead in Florida

Newt Gingrich holds a 24-point lead in Florida over his closest competitor for the Republican presidential nomination, according to a survey of likely GOP primary voters released Wednesday.

Gingrich took 41 percent of the support in a Florida Times-Union poll, followed by Mitt Romney with 17 percent, Herman Cain with 13 percent, Rick Perry with 7 percent, Ron Paul with 4 percent, Michele Bachmann with 3 percent and Rick Santorum with 1 percent.

“I have not seen a lead this large, this late in a Republican presidential primary season since I have been polling," InsiderAdvantage pollster Matt Towery told the Times-Union. "Newt Gingrich is winning nearly 50% of the independent vote, but more importantly, the Republican vote which makes up the vast majority of the Florida Republican primary."

Gingrich continues to pick up supporters from Cain’s embattled campaign. The InsiderAdvantage-Majority Opinion Research poll was conducted this week, after an Atlanta businesswoman said she carried on a 13-year affair with the former Godfather's Pizza executive.

It’s the third InsiderAdvantage poll released this week to show Gingrich leading an important early-voting state. Similar polls in Iowa and South Carolina have the former House Speaker in the lead, and although Gingrich trails Romney in New Hampshire, he's within the margin of error in the Granite State.

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