WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The race for the 2012 Republican U.S. presidential nomination remains wide open, with the vast majority of the party's voters undecided about who they will support, a poll released Tuesday showed.
Businessman Herman Cain continued to lead the field with the backing of 25 percent of Republican voters questioned in the New York Times/CBS News poll. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was in second place with 21 percent.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the 2012 GOP hopefuls.]
But about four of five of the Republican voters questioned in the survey said it is too early to decide who they will support for the nomination, with only 19 percent saying their minds are made up.
Former front-runner Rick Perry fell to fifth place in the poll, at just 6 percent support. The Texas governor had led a similar poll in mid-September at 23 percent.
Perry now also trails former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich at 10 percent and U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas at 8 percent.
U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota had 2 percent, followed by former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and former Senator Rick Santorum at 1 percent each.
The Republican nominee will face Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 election.
[Check out our editorial cartoons on President Obama.]
The poll involved 1,475 registered voters, including 455 who said they planned to vote in a Republican primary. The poll results have a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
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Andrew of AZ 9:18PM October 25, 2011
Sung of TX 2:52PM October 25, 2011