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Des Moines Register Poll: Newt Leads in Iowa, Paul (!) in Second Place

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 3: A supporter of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich wears a campaign button at a town hall meeting on December 3, 2011 in the Staten Island borough of New York City. Gingrich, who’s seen a surge in polls in recent weeks, plans to attend Mike Huckabee’s Special Republican Presidential Forum on Fox News, after this town hall event hosted by the Tea Party of Staten Island. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images) Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images

The Des Moines Register is out with the latest edition of its definitive poll, and your new frontrunner is Newt Gingrich. The trends from October:

Newt Gingrich - 25% (+18)
Ron Paul - 18% (+6)
Mitt Romney - 16% (-6)
Herman Cain - 8% (-15)
Michele Bachmann - 8% (+0)
Rick Perry - 6% (-1)
Rick Santorum - 6% (+1)
Jon Huntsman - 2% (+1)

Where does that 8 percent vote for Cain go? The DMR’s Jennifer Jacobs notes that 43 percent of voters list Gingrich – who has neither run an ad in Iowa, nor had an ad run against him, as their second choice.