Two Polls Show a Santorum Surge Two new national polls provide fresh evidence of Rick Santorum's surge among Republican voters and one of them suggests that Mitt Romney's efforts to court conservatives has hurt him with the independent voters who will be critical to winning the general election in the fall. A survey conducted Wednesday through Sunday by the Pew Research Center shows Mr. Santorum with 30 percent of the vote among Republican and Republican-leaning voters, virtually tied with Mr. Romney, who has 28 percent. A month ago in the survey, Mr. Romney held a commanding lead over Mr. Santorum, 31 percent to 14 percent. A separate national poll by Gallup also conducted Wednesday through Sunday shows a similar surge for Mr. Santorum. The Gallup poll also has both men essentially tied, with Mr. Romney at 32 percent and Mr. Santorum at 30 percent. A Gallup poll released a week ago, on Feb. 5, showed Mr. Santorum at 16 percent, well behind Mr. Romney at 37 percent. "Gallup Daily tracking conducted in the days after Santorum's sweep of three little-anticipated nominating contests last week shows national Republicans responding as they have each time there has been a big win or an upset in the caucuses and primaries thus far - by jumping on the winner's bandwagon," the organization wrote on Monday. The Pew survey suggests that Mr. Santorum is surging among conservative voters who have expressed doubts about Mr. Romney's commitment to their causes. Mr. Santorum holds large, double-digit leads over Mr. Romney among voters who agree with the Tea Party and evangelical Republicans. "Santorum is now the clear favorite of Republican and G.O.P.-leaning voters who agree with the Tea Party, as well as white evangelical Republicans," the Pew survey found. Currently, 42 percent of Tea Party Republican voters favor Santorum, compared with just 23 percent who back Romney. Santorum holds an almost identical advantage among white evangelical Republican voters (41 percent to 23 percent). The Pew survey asked all voters nationwide about the general election. In head-to-head matchups with President Obama, both Mr. Santorum and Mr. Romney come out behind, according to the survey. Mr. Obama would beat Mr. Romney 52 percent to 44 percent if the election were held today, according to the survey. Mr. Obama would defeat Mr. Santorum 53 percent to 43 percent. But the biggest warning for Mr. Romney may be among independents, according to the survey. In mid-January, the Pew poll found that 50 percent of independents preferred Mr. Romney, while just 40 percent said they would vote for Mr. Obama. In the more recent survey, those numbers have flipped. Now, 51 percent of independents say they support Mr. Obama, while just 42 percent say they would vote for Mr. Romney. The Pew Poll was based on interviews conducted by land line and cellphone with 1,172 registered voters of whom 552 were Republicans or independents who leaned Republican. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for voters and 5 points for Republican and Republican leaners. The Gallup results are based on telephone interviews conducted as part of a daily tracking poll. The sample of 1,162 registered voters with party identification of Republican or independent and leaning Republican has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.