MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — The Republican caucuses in Minnesota on Tuesday are a virtual toss up, with frontrunner Mitt Romney trailing former senator Rick Santorum by a small margin, a poll showed Sunday.

Romney, who strengthened his lead for the White House race with a solid win Saturday in the Nevada caucuses, faces a tougher challenge in the midwestern state, based on the survey from Public Policy Polling.

ADVERTISEMENT

The poll gave Santorum, a narrow winner in neighboring Iowa, 29 percent of the vote to 27 percent for the former Massachusetts governor.

Former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich, whose campaign appears to be losing steam, was at 18 percent while congressman Ron Paul held 12 percent, the poll showed.

Minnesota has 40 delegates at stake in its non-binding caucuses, which will select delegates to the Republican convention to choose the party’s candidate to face Democratic President Barack Obama in November.

Minnesota is among three heartland states voting on Tuesday, along with Missouri and Colorado. PPP said Tuesday has the potential to be a big day for Santorum, who has had a lead in Missouri and is running second in Colorado.

But the polling group said Romney has momentum after big wins in Florida and Nevada.

ADVERTISEMENT

A separate PPP poll showed Romney with 40 percent in Colorado to 26 percent for Santorum, 18 percent for Gingrich and 12 percent for Paul.

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons, uploaded from http://flickr.com/photo/[email protected]/6306494490