AP

The South Carolina primary is Saturday, then it's on to Florida, the next battleground for Republican presidential candidates.

A new survey shows one candidate is already running well ahead of his rivals in Florida. Mitt Romney has the backing of 42 percent of Florida voters, almost double the 25 percent of votes his closest rival, Newt Gingrich, has.

All remaining candidates--Ron Paul, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum--are polling in the single digits.

These numbers are especially frustrating for Gingrich, who at one point was backed by half of voters surveyed for this same poll just two months ago. But the former House Speaker has since been the subject of scathing attack ads from an independent organization supporting Romney, and they seem to be hitting home with voters.

If Romney can take South Carolina, things are setting up nicely in Florida. It may not be long before the GOP has their candidate to face President Obama in the general election.