Florida Primary: Romney, Gingrich in Virtual Tie

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are locked in a statistical tie in Florida with less than a week to go until the state's primary, a new poll shows.

A CNN/Time/ORC International Poll found that Romney and Gingrich are separated by a mere two percentage points, with Romney's 36-34 lead within the poll's margin of error. Those numbers reflect how volatile and unpredictable the Republican presidential primary continues to be -- a mid-January CNN poll taken before Gingrich captured South Carolina found the former Speaker winning only 18 percent of the vote in Florida.

In the wake of his double-digit victory in the South Carolina primary, Newt Gingrich has nearly doubled his support in Florida, CNN Polling Director Keating Holland told the network. The current numbers are the result of some wild swings for and against the two frontrunners.

After winning South Carolina, Gingrich surged to 38 percent support among Florida voters. He continues to outpace Romney among self-identified conservative voters and those who support the Tea Party, the latter group having been instrumental in propelling him to victory in South Carolina. Romney did better among moderates and women.

The two candidates have spent the past week bludgeoning each other in an increasingly acrimonious campaign. Romney has sharply questioned Gingrich's ethics record and suggested that his consulting work may have violated some rules, while Gingrich has attacked Romney's record on immigration in a likely appeal to Florida' substantial bloc of Latino voters.

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