A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary Voters shows ex-Massachusetts governor Romney earning 27% support, while Christie, the current governor of New Jersey, picks up 26% of the vote. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman whose controversial long-term budget plan shook up the spending debate in Washington, runs a distant third with 12%.

Another former governor, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, earns eight percent (8%) of the primary vote, followed by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (4%), Texas Governor Rick Perry (3%), and Jon Huntsman, ex-governor of Utah and just retired U.S. ambassador to China, with two percent (2%). Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate than the ones on this list, and 12% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)