Good news for Gingrich in Georgia

A new poll shows Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich with a significant lead in his home state of Georgia.

The Landmark/ Rosetta Stone poll of 1,300 Georgia voters gives Gingrich a 13-point lead over opponent Rick Santorum and a 19-point lead over Mitt Romney.

Garnering 38 percent of voters there is good news for the former House Speaker of Georgia who, just one week ago, played down expectations and said that it is possible that he could lose.

"Look, given this kind of a year, who knows?" Gingrich told reporters on February 16.

However, on Fox News Sunday last week, Gingrich put the onus on Romney to win his home state of Michigan. "If he can't carry his home state, I think the rationale for why is there a Romney candidacy," he told host Chris Wallace.

This Georgia poll, which was conducted on February 23, is backed up by a new analysis by New York Times' Nate Silver of the FiveThrityEight blog, who gives Gingrich a 79-percent chance of winning the Peachtree State.

Georgians holds its nominating contest with nine other states in just over a week, on March 6 - also known as "Super Tuesday."