Michele Bachmann enjoys boost in New Hampshire poll, but Romney still GOP front-runner

Michele Bachmann, already a front-runner in the first caucus state of Iowa, is enjoying a boost in the first primary state of New Hampshire according to a new poll released Tuesday.

Mitt Romney remains the prohibitive favorite in the Granite State, however, with 35% of likely Republican primary voters saying they’d back the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts.

The University of New Hampshire survey found that Bachmann leapfrogged a host of Republicans in the weeks after she used the June 13 debate in the state to formally declare her candidacy, moving from 4% to 12%. That mirrors results from a Suffolk University/7NEWS poll released last week that also found Bachmann jumped 8 percentage points.

The rest of the pack is in single digits. Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani scored 7% support. Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- who like Giuliani has not announced a campaign -- came in at 4%.

That’s ahead of two former governors who are working hard to build support in New Hampshire -- Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, who is stuck at 3%, and Utah’s Jon Huntsman, who dropped to 2%.

Sarah Palin, who stopped in New Hampshire during her “One Nation” bus tour in June, actually dipped from 5% to 3% in the survey, and 23% of likely primary voters say they would not support her under any circumstances.

In a Des Moines Register poll of Iowa voters released last week, Romney and Bachmann were essentially tied among likely caucus-goers, with 23% and 22% support, respectively.

The state of play in New Hampshire is far from settled, and the numbers will likely shift further in the seven months leading up to the expected February 2012 primary. Three of four GOP primary voters surveyed said they are still trying to decide who they would vote for, compared to 8% who say they are definite about their pick.

The survey of 357 likely Republican primary voters was conducted from June 21 to July 1, with a margin of error of 5.2%.

Among a larger field voters, the survey found Romney would edge Obama in the November general election, 47-43%, down slightly from a 50-43% Romney lead in April. Obama would defeat Bachmann 47-41%.