A tough fight for Michigan between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum tightened on Monday in a primary that may prove pivotal in choosing a 2012 Republican presidential nominee. With Michigan to vote on Tuesday, a new poll said Santorum had halted a slide in support that began after a weak debate performance in Arizona last week.
The Mitchell Research/Rosetta Stone poll said the former Pennsylvania senator is in a statistical dead heat with Romney, edging him 37 percent to 35 percent after losing the lead last week. The poll's margin of error was 3 percentage points. "The volatility we thought had changed has not. The race remains very fluid," said Steve Mitchell, president of Mitchell Research & Communications, a Republican firm that polled 858 Republican primary voters. Romney has a comfortable lead in Arizona, which also votes on Tuesday. In Livonia, Santorum said he was excited at his position in the state.