A recent poll shows that the Republican presidential race in North Carolina is a dead heat between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney.

The two contenders are tied at 30 percent, according to a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) in Raleigh. Newt Gingrich was third at 19 percent, with Ron Paul bringing up the rear at 13 percent. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.

Two weeks ago, Romney had a four-point lead over Santorum in the state, the polling firm said. Romney’s support has remained pretty steady since then, but Santorum’s has grown from 27 percent to 30 percent, the poll found.

The polling firm said in the news release that it is no coincidence that Santorum’s support has increased as Gingrich’s has declined from 24 percent to 19 percent. More and more conservatives are unifying around Santorum as the alternative to Romney, the firm said.

If Gingrich dropped out of the race, Santorum would open up a six-point lead in North Carolina, with 43 percent to 37 percent for Romney and 13 percent for Paul, the poll showed.

The poll also looked at the other Republican races on the May 8 ballot in North Carolina.

It found that support for Pat McCrory continues to grow stronger in the primary for governor, with 64 percent of likely voters now saying he is their pick. That is up from 57 percent a month ago. The other candidates barely registered, with Jim Mahan at 3 percent, Jim Harney and Charles Kenneth Moss at 2 percent, Scott Jones at 1 percent and Paul Wright with less than 1 percent.

In most of the council of state races, the majority of those surveyed were undecided, ranging from 50 percent for agriculture commissioner to 73 percent for state treasurer.

“The only real solid conclusion you can make on the down-ballot races in North Carolina at this point is that the undecideds are in the lead,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. “Voters are not tuned in or paying attention to the candidates yet.”

In one race of local interest, the poll showed a slight edge for former state Rep. Richard Morgan, of Moore County, in his bid for insurance commissioner, with 16 percent, followed by Mike Causey with 10 percent and and James McCall with 8 percent.

“If the poll trends like it did four years ago, and it is taking shape again this time, then I am very pleased,” Morgan said Thursday. “With down-ticket races, most people don’t know. My lead has a lot to do with name identification. A lot of times this turns out to be a publicity contest based on name recognition.”

Morgan, who won the GOP primary for state superintendent of public instruction four years ago but lost in the general election, said he expects his poll numbers to improve once he starts running television ads this week.

PPP surveyed 561 Republican primary voters from March 22-25. The poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization, the news release said.