Top Stories St. Paul

Gov. Tim Pawlenty travels to Iowa this weekend to headline a Republican fundraiser, simply the latest evidence that he’s seriously eyeing a 2012 run for president. But according to the latest poll looking at potential GOP presidential contenders, Pawlenty continues to lag well behind his likely rivals. Just 32 percent of Republicans polled would “seriously consider” voting for Pawlenty in 2012, according to a new Gallup survey. By contrast 48 percent indicated that they would not entertain supporting him for president.

Pawlenty’s figures lagged well behind those of other potential GOP contenders. Mike Huckabee was deemed worthy of serious consideration by 71 percent of Republicans, while Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney were assayed credible contenders by 65 percent of GOP respondents. Among all of those surveyed, just 25 percent deemed Pawlenty qualified to be president, while twice as many held the opposite view.

The Gallup survey polled 1,021 adults across the country. It had a sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points. It’s the third recent poll to indicate that Pawlenty has considerable work to do if he intends to make a credible bid for the GOP nomination in 2012.