Rick Santorum's popularity has dropped noticeably since 2012, even among Republicans
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, now officially in the hunt for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination, may have to reintroduce himself to many Republicans. Although Santorum finished second to Mitt Romney in 2012, winning 11 primary and caucus events then, many Americans, and even may Republicans now don’t have an image of him. In the latest Economist/YouGov Poll about three in ten Republicans and three in ten overall aren’t sure what to think about Santorum.
Nationally, views of Santorum are less favorable than they were three years ago. His favorable rating dropped ten points overall and is down 21 points among Republicans. There has been a much smaller drop in the percentage unfavorable among all adults, and among Republicans today more have an unfavorable opinion of Santorum than did three years ago.
Santorum is less popular among Republicans than the other announced GOP contenders, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Tennessee Senator Rand Paul, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, businesswomen Carly Fiorina and neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Each of those individuals receives higher favorable ratings and lower unfavorable ratings from Republicans than Santorum does.
And right now, Rubio, Carson, Huckabee and Paul, along with the as yet-unannounced Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush are all well ahead of Santorum among registered voters who call themselves Republicans. In fact, Santorum trails the entire field.
Economist/YouGov poll archives can be found here.
