20 January 2012
Last updated at 22:36 ET
US presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has surged in opinion polls ahead of voting in South Carolina, the latest leg of the battle to be the Republican challenger to Barack Obama.
Despite battling an ex-wife’s claim that Mr Gingrich wanted an open marriage, he was 6% ahead of Mitt Romney in one eve-of-vote opinion poll.
Former Massachusetts Governor Romney said the race was “neck and neck”.
Saturday’s election is a crucial test for the four remaining contenders.
Primaries and caucuses will be held in every US state over the next few months to pick a Republican nominee before the eventual winner is anointed at the party convention in August to take on Mr Obama in November.
‘Vulnerable’
Mr Romney swept into South Carolina more than a week ago buoyed by a double-digit opinion-poll lead, after his resounding victory in New Hampshire’s primary and a near-tie in Iowa’s caucuses.
But his aura of inevitability has since looked vulnerable as two muscular TV debating performances helped Mr Gingrich stage a
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