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 BOSTON (Reuters) - Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's
decision not to make a third White House run in 2016 has boosted
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's chances with Republican voters in
New Hampshire, home to the first presidential primary, according to
a poll released on Wednesday.
Some 21.2 percent of Republican voters and independents polled by
Reach Communications for NH1 News who said they would likely vote in
the state's presidential nominating primary said they would vote for
Walker. That gave Walker a solid lead over former Florida Governor
Jeb Bush, who had the support of 14.4 percent of likely voters.
 The finding from the Feb. 2-3 poll of 1,012 respondents, conducted
days after Romney said he would not make a third run at the White
House, marked a sharp change from a poll two weeks earlier that
showed Romney favored by about 29 percent of likely voters, a
commanding lead.
This week's poll, which had a 3.1 percentage point margin of error,
showed Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, retired surgeon and Tea Party
favorite Ben Carson and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie rounding
out the top five candidates.
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Walker, who has commanded national attention for taking on powerful
unions in his home state, plans to make his first visit of the 2016
campaign season to New Hampshire next month. He will speak at a
Republican organizing meeting.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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