Perry leads GOP field after only a week in the race

— -- Just days after launching his campaign, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has surged into the lead of the race for the Republican nomination, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

Perry led former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the previous front-runner, by 12 percentage points, 29%-17%, the poll showed.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas placed third with 13% support from those surveyed, followed by Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, with 10%.

Romney had maintained a lead in nationwide polling for months. Perry's ability to surpass him after only one full week of campaigning, at the time the poll was taken, shows how vulnerable Romney's lead was. Perry's entrance into the race also has slowed Bachmann's steady rise in the polls despite her win in the Iowa straw poll.

Perry announced his intention to run for president on Aug. 13. Before that announcement, Perry received 15% support, behind Romney who had 17%.

The race is still early for all the candidates and several high-profile tests loom on the other side of Labor Day.

"Polls are a snapshot and there's no question he has dominated August," said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who ran Sen. Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996. " All eyes are going to be on that first debate (on Sept 7) when Perry's on the stage."

Perry has had a bumpy transition from Texas governor to national candidate. In his first days as a candidate, Perry made news with controversial comments on evolution, climate change and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's handling of the economy.

In the new poll, businessman Herman Cain and former House speaker Newt Gingrich each received 4%. Former senator Rick Santorum stood at 3% while former ambassador to China Jon Huntsman received 1%.

Republican pollster David Winston said it is too early to tell what the positive polling numbers mean for Perry.

"Once he's been in the race for a little bit, for a month or so, we'll get a sense of where the race really is," he said. "Right now, he's a new entrant and people are fluctuating how they feel about him."