Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney stands on a table to address an overflow crowd during a campaign stop in Souix City, Iowa December 31, 2011, ahead of the Iowa Caucus on January 3, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

DES MOINES, Iowa - Republican Mitt Romney narrowly leads rival Ron Paul in Iowa three days before the state kicks off the party's 2012 presidential nominating race, according to a Des Moines Register poll released on Saturday.  

The closely watched poll, which has a strong track record in Iowa races, showed Rick Santorum surging past Newt Gingrich into third place in a fluid battle where 41 percent of likely caucus-goers said they could still change their minds.  

The newspaper's poll, conducted Tuesday through Friday, showed Romney with 24 percent support and Paul with 22 percent, within the margin of error of 4 percentage points and similar to other polls showing the two battling for the top spot in Iowa.

Santorum had 15 percent support and Gingrich 12 percent. In fifth place was Rick Perry with 11 percent, and Michele Bachmann was sixth with 7 percent.  

The poll was released as candidates launched the final stretch run for Tuesday's contest in Iowa, the first in the state-by-state battle to choose a Republican challenger to Obama, a Democrat, in the November election.  

The results were a boost to Romney, who has resumed his front-runner's role in the Republican presidential race in the last few weeks after the slide of Gingrich.  

A victory for Romney in Iowa, combined with a win in the next contest on January 10 in New Hampshire, could put the former Massachusetts governor on a path to clinching the Republican nomination early.  

But Santorum was the candidate with momentum in the closing days of the race. The Register poll was taken over a four-day period and the newspaper said that in the final two days of polling, Santorum was in second place with 21 percent. Romney stayed the same at 24 percent.  

The poll was more bad news for Gingrich, the former House speaker who led the race a few weeks ago but has faded under an onslaught of attack ads from Paul and an outside group that backs Romney.  

At a stop in Iowa earlier on Saturday, Gingrich said he would adjust his campaign strategy to respond more forcefully to the attacks.