Huckabee Leaps Past Romney In Iowa Poll

A new poll shows Mike Huckabee leading the Republican race in Iowa, while three Democrats remain front-runners in the state.

The poll for The Des Moines Register had Huckabee with 29 percent, ahead of Mitt Romney who had 24 percent. Rudy Giuliani was third with 13 percent.

Huckabee's surge among Iowa Republicans continues with a poll indicating for the first time that he's opened up a small lead over Romney, who has held the top spot in Iowa polls for months. Giuliani is far behind in third place, with other candidates in single digits.

Among the Democrats, in what is still a 3-person race, Barack Obama had 28 percent, followed by Hillary Rodham Clinton with 25 percent and John Edwards with 23 percent.

The Democratic race continues to focus on three front-runners, but Obama appears to have some momentum.

The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. It comes a little more than a month before Iowa's January 3 precinct caucuses.

DEMOCRATS:

Barack Obama, 28 percent
Hillary Rodham Clinton, 25 percent
John Edwards, 23 percent
Bill Richardson, 9 percent
Joe Biden, 6 percent
Christopher Dodd, 1 percent
Dennis Kucinich, 1 percent
Not sure/Uncommitted, 7 percent

REPUBLICANS:

Mike Huckabee, 29 percent
Mitt Romney, 24 percent
Rudy Giuliani, 13 percent
Fred Thompson, 9 percent
John McCain, 7 percent
Ron Paul, 7 percent
Tom Tancredo, 6 percent
Duncan Hunter, 1 percent
Not sure/Uncommitted, 4 percent

The telephone poll for The Des Moines Register of 500 voters who say they definitely or probably will attend the Democratic caucuses and 500 voters who definitely or probably will attend the Republican caucuses was conducted Nov. 25-28. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.