(AP)  A new poll shows former House Speaker Newt Gingrich heading into Florida's presidential preference primary next week with a lot of momentum coming off his victory in South Carolina.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's lead over Gingrich by 12 percentage points just two weeks ago has virtually disappeared.

Romney was favored by 36 percent to Gingrich's 34 percent in a survey of 601 Republicans who described themselves as likely voters next Tuesday in Florida. The random telephone survey taken Jan. 19-23 by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points which put the two Republican frontrunners within the margin of error.

Rick Santorum had 13 percent and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul 10 percent in the survey released Wednesday.