Gingrich leads in Oklahoma poll in good sign for Super Tuesday strategy

Newt Gingrich is leading the Republican field in a new poll of Oklahoma, partially validating the campaign's belief that Super Tuesday could provide a chance for the former House Speaker to claw his way back into the race for the Republican nomination.

Gingrich was the top choice for 34 percent of voters in the American Research Group poll, edging Mitt Romney's 31 percent. Rick Santorum was in third with 16 percent, while Ron Paul rounded out the field with 10 percent.

Gingrich's lead expands among likely voters who say they will "definitely" vote in the Super Tuesday primary, where he edges Romney 36 percent to 31 percent. The former Speaker also holds sizable leads among men, besting Romney by 10 percentage points, and those who identify as supporters of the Tea Party movement. Among the 51 percent of state Republicans who identify themselves as Tea Party supporters, Gingrich holds a 20-percentage-point lead.

Romney, however, leads the unaffiliated — and likely more centrist — half of Republicans in the state by a 36 percent to 22 percent margin.

Gingrich hopes his brand of conservatism could help him pick up major swaths of delegates in states like Oklahoma (with 43 delegates), Tennessee (with 58 delegates) and Georgia (with 76 delegates). Those states could help him bridge some of the existing delegate gap with the former Massachusetts governor, who still leads substantially after taking Florida's winner-take-all primary last week.

Still, Gingrich is facing an uphill battle after Santorum's sweep of three contests Tuesday night. That could prompt anti-Romney support to coalesce around the former Pennsylvania senator, ultimately hurting Gingrich's ability to maintain his campaign's momentum through the month.

While only 7 percent of Oklahomans surveyed in ARG's poll were undecided, it did not account for Santorum's big night and its potential to again disrupt the GOP race.

---