New Poll: Huckabee second in New York

Although he has yet to campaign in New York, Governor Mike Huckabee has already risen to second in New York in a new poll - and he is rapidly gaining on the leader.

In the survey conducted December 2-8 by California-based Datamar Inc., Huckabee was the choice of 13.6 New York voters.

He now trails only Rudolph Giuiani, who was the choice of 35.7 percent.

But there's more.

In Datamar's November survey, Huckabee had commanded only 7.8 percent of the vote, and was in fifth place. So he has nearly doubled his numbers and vaulted over three other candidates.

The surge is evidently having an affect here.

Meanwhile, in November, Giulini had 38.8 percent. The new poll suggests his suport is slipping. He held a 31.1 point lead over Huckanbee in November. That has closed to 22.1.

And remember, we have barely begun efforts in New York.

Here's the data for the top tier candidates.

December

Giuliani - 35.7
Huckabee - 13.6
McCain - 11.3
Romney - 9.9
Thompson - 7.1

November

Giuliani - 38.8
Huckabee - 7.8
McCain - 9.8
Romney - 11.8
Thompson - 9.9

No other candidate gets more than 3.5 (Paul).

A significant figure in the latest survey is that 16.6 of the surveyed voters are still undecided slightly up from the 16.5 in November. These are the people we have to reach in the coming weeks.

(To see the full poll, go to http://www.datamar.net/pdf/nyrepublicanPPdec07.pdf)