Polls

Sixty-one percent of Texans don't want to see Gov. Rick Perry (R) make a run for president in 2012. 

A new poll commissioned by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and a handful of other Texas newspapers found that while Perry's approval rating stands at 50 percent — 73 percent among Republicans — Texans would rather see him remain in the governor's office. 

Perry has repeatedly denied any interest in making a bid for the GOP nomination in 2012, but his name is still being floated in conservative circles. 

Late last year, Perry told the AP that his new book was proof positive he wasn't aiming for the presidency in 2012. The governor said the book, titled Fed Up: Our Fight to Save America From Washington, contains so much anti-Washington rhetoric that it would be a major hurdle in a potential run. 

"I am not interested in going to Washington, D.C., as president, vice president or in anybody's Cabinet," Perry said at the time. 

Perry was elected to his fourth term as governor of Texas this past November. He defeated Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) in a primary before winning the general-election contest over former Houston Mayor Bill White (D).

A new poll out Tuesday holds more bad news for Sen. John Ensign's (R-Nev.) 2012 prospects. 

Numbers from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling firm show Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) would easily defeat Ensign in a Republican primary if the senator opted to seek reelection. 

Heller leads Ensign 52 percent to 34 percent in a hypothetical 2012 primary match up. That's a sea change from just three months ago when PPP measured a lead for Ensign over Heller in a potential primary, 45 percent to 37 percent.

The poll also found Heller to be the top choice for 2012 among Republican primary voters in Nevada. Given a choice between seven potential candidates, 30 percent of Nevada Republicans wanted Heller as the nominee, compared to just 20 percent who wanted Ensign. Ensign has not yet announced whether he will seek another term in 2012, but many observers doubt he will run again.

Following Heller and Ensign were Sue Lowden with 12 percent and Danny Tarkanian with 10 percent. Both Republicans ran for the nomination to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in 2010 and lost. Just 9 percent of Nevada Republicans said 2010 Senate nominee Sharron Angle would be their pick to run in 2012.

The poll surveyed 400 GOP primary voters and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.9 percentage points.

A PPP poll from last week showed Ensign trailing every potential Democratic opponent, including Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), in hypothetical 2012 matchups. The same poll showed Heller defeating every rumored Democratic candidate. 

Berkley, meanwhile, said Monday she won't announce her 2012 intentions until late spring or early summer. In an interview with The Las Vega Sun's Jon Ralston, Berkley said of last week's poll, "I took it to heart. I saw where the numbers were and before I make a decision, I have to find a path to victory. If I can find that path to victory, I'm all in."

A recent survey shows Mike Huckabee remains the darling of Iowa Republicans.

The former Arkansas governor has been taciturn about whether he plans to run again in 2012 for the GOP presidential nomination, but that hasn't tempered enthusiasm for him in the lead-off caucus state. 

Huckabee, who came out on top in the 2008 Iowa caucuses, remains the front-runner, according to a new survey by Public Policy Polling. He took 30 percent of the vote compared to 18 percent for Mitt Romney, who was runner-up in 2008. 

Huckabee won Iowa in 2008 with 34 percent of support from delegates to 25 percent for Romney, who outspent his rival by millions of dollars. 

Sarah Palin was in third in the PPP poll, with 15 percent of the vote, while Newt Gingrich took 13 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 6 percent.

Former Minnestoa Gov. Tim Pawlenty had support from only 4 percent of respondents, while 3 percent said they were backing Sen. John Thune (S.D.). Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels was backed by only 1 percent.

PPP, a Democratic-leaning firm, surveyed 494 usual Iowa Republican primary voters from Jan. 7-9. The poll's margin of error was 4.4 percent.

Moreover, the poll showed that Huckabee was the second choice of a plurality of respondents — another good sign if he decides to run again. Should their first-choice candidates fail to become viable at the precinct caucuses, 19 percent said they'd gravitate to Huckabee, 9 percent said Romney, 13 percent said Palin and 12 percent said Gingrich.

Rahm Emanuel continues to lead the Chicago mayoral race, while his nearest rivals compete to join him in the November runoff.

The former White House chief of staff garnered 42 percent of the vote in a new survey commissioned by a branch of the Chicago Teamsters. Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D) was in second with 26 percent of the vote, while former Chicago Public Schools official Gery Chico took 10 percent and City Clerk Miguel Del Valle had 7 percent.

The poll was taken Jan. 4-6, according to NBC Chicago.

A December Chicago Tribune/WGN poll had Emanuel leading with 32 percent.

The mayoral primary is set for Feb. 22. It's a non-partisan contest where the top two vote getters advance to a runoff in April.

--This post was updated and corrected on Jan. 18 at 5:22 p.m.

Past polling shows that support for stricter gun-control laws has declined; even after tragedies like the Virginia Tech shootings.

A new poll shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the early Republican frontrunner in New Hampshire, where he holds a commanding 23-point edge over his closest potential rival — former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.   

The New Hampshire Journal poll, conducted by the Republican firm Magellan Strategies, found Romney comfortably at the head of the pack of rumored 2012 hopefuls with 39 percent of the vote. 

He's followed by Palin at 16 percent, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 10 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 8 percent and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) at 7 percent. 

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty registers a disappointing 4 percent in the survey. That's barely ahead of former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who comes in at 3 percent and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who polls just 1 percent.

To state the obvious — it's very early — but Romney's lead is still notable. So are Palin's favorability numbers, particularly among independent voters. The NH Journal poll measured a net positive favorability for Palin with self-identified independents — 50 percent to 41 percent. 

And while it didn't translate to a better showing against Romney, the poll also found her very popular with the GOP base in the state, which unlike in Iowa tends to be a bit more centrist. Fifty-nine percent of Republicans polled said they have a favorable view of Palin.   

Santorum, who moved closer to a 2012 run earlier this week when he announced his first staff hire in New Hampshire, is heading back to the state for another visit later this month and Pawlenty has a two-day visit to the state on his January schedule as part of his book tour.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is also heading to New Hampshire next month, but denied a report in The New York Post that he's huddling with political advisers and weighing another run for president in 2012. 

If Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) opts to run for reelection in 2012 he will have a tough road ahead, even with members of his own party. 

New numbers from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling found 48 percent of Republicans in the state would rather see Ensign step aside in 2012. Just 42 percent of Nevada Republicans want him to seek reelection.

And while Ensign currently trails all potential Democratic opponents, including Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) 45 percent to 42 percent, the poll found Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) leading every potential Democratic hopeful in an open-seat contest. 

Heller leads Berkley 51 percent to 38 percent in a hypothetical 2012 match up. 

Ensign has not yet indicated whether he will run for another term in 2012 following a scandal over his affair with the wife of a former campaign aide. 

Last month, the Department of Justice dropped its probe of Ensign over allegations that a cover-up of the affair was at work in a $96,000 payment made to the parents of Ensign's former mistress. The Federal Election Commission also dropped an investigation into the matter late last year. 

The Las Vegas Sun's political guru Jon Ralston predicted Wednesday that Ensign would not run in 2012, setting up a contest between Heller and Berkley. 

Even if Ensign decides to seek another term, he could still face a primary challenge from Heller, who has publicly suggested that Ensign remaining in the Senate could detract from the needs of the state. 

Ensign and Heller recently broke on the tax cut compromise reached by President Obama and Senate Republicans. Ensign opposed the deal, while Heller supported it. 

The poll also found that Republicans overwhelmingly regret their choice of Sharron Angle to be the party's nominee against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in 2010. A full 68 percent of Nevada Republicans said they should have nominated someone else. 

While Democratic identifiers decreased to 31 percent, the percentage of those calling themselves independents jumped to 38 percent.

The "Morning Joe" host and former GOP congressman might reenter politics, he said, if he sees an "absence of leadership."

Outgoing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) will enjoy his highest approval rating of the year just as he leaves office. 

Fifty percent of Florida voters approve of the former Republican Senate candidate's job performance, according to Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling (PPP), opposed to 39 percent who disapprove. 

The results suggest that Crist has enough support to launch another political campaign in the future after being swept away by now-Sen.-elect Marco Rubio (R) in the state's closely watched GOP Senate primary. 

Crist has high approval numbers among independents, 70 percent, after he left the GOP and ran as the third candidate in the general election. 

Sixty-two percent of Democrats say they would either consider voting for Crist in the future (36 percent) or definitely do so (26 percent). But 50 percent of Republicans say they would never vote for him again, making it highly unlikely he could make a future comeback in the GOP.