Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has taken double-digit leads over his Republican rivals in three US states, according to a poll published today.
Mr Gingrich, former US house of representatives speaker and recent frontrunner in the Republican nominating race, polled ahead of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney by margins of 18 to 27 percentage points in matchups in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the Quinnipiac University poll showed.
In Ohio, Mr Gingrich also edged out president Barack Obama with 43 per cent support compared to Mr Obama's 42 per cent, but the president topped Mr Gingrich in Pennsylvania and Florida.
"Former house speaker Newt Gingrich is no longer just the flavor of the month ..." said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Mr Gingrich's surge in the GOP race is accompanied by a better showing among independent voters in a general election race against president Obama, although he still has a ways to go."
As other Republican aspirants stumble on the campaign trail, Mr Gingrich has soared to the top of the pack as an alternative to Romney, who some conservatives see as too moderate.
Mr Gingrich's campaign in the nominating contest to choose a challenger to Mr Obama in the 2012 election faltered severely when his staff resigned en masse in the summer.
The gay half-sister of Mr Gingrich slammed his position on gay rights yesterday and said she will support Mr Obama.
Candace Gingrich-Jones, a gay rights activist, told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that she and her older half-brother, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, were "mutually respectful" but disagree on gay rights.
"He is definitely on the wrong side of history when it comes to those issues," Ms Gingrich-Jones said.
She said she would "work really, really hard to make sure that president Obama is re-elected next year no matter who the Republican candidate is."
Mr Gingrich is known for his socially conservative views and has said he opposes gay marriage. Ms Gingrich-Jones, a director at the Humans Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy group, said he did not attend her wedding.
Reuters