With the Iowa caucuses less than six months away, an unscientific survey of Iowa's Republican county chairs shows more committing to a presidential candidate compared to a similar survey conducted in the first months of the year. Of the 42 Republican county chairs who responded to the recent IowaPolitics.com survey, 16 said they were committed to a candidate, compared to just six who were committed in the earlier survey.

See the results of the earlier survey:
http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=91783

Of those 16, eight said they were committed to Mitt Romney, often citing his experience, his qualifications and his effort in Iowa.

"He is right on the issues and has spent time in Iowa developing a team and meeting the voters," one Romney supporter said.

"He has put the time and money into Iowa," said another.

A couple also cited his chances of defeating the eventual Democratic nominee, with one saying Romney "has a very strong possibility of winning the general election."

Among the other committed chairs, two each said they were committed to John Cox and Mike Huckabee. Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Tom Tancredo and Newt Gingrich each got one nod.

One Huckabee supporter cited his electability: "I prefer governors. I think they have a better chance at winning the general election."

One of the Cox supporters said he was "witty, bright, against corruption and has spent less time in Washington. I have been around him quite a bit and I agree with 99% of his positions on everything."

Among those who said they were not yet committed, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson were the top choices, with Romney named by 52 percent of respondents and Thompson named by 48 percent.

"Fred Thompson is not afraid to tell it the way it is, and appears to be very conservative," said one of the chairs considering supporting him.

Former governors Tommy Thompson and Mike Huckabee were third and fourth, respectively, at 32 percent and 28 percent.

"Tommy is a long shot, but I like what he did in Wisconsin (has good Midwestern values)," said one of the chairs considering backing the former Wisconsin governor.

One chair who named both Huckabee and Tommy Thompson as potential picks said they were "conservative, principled leaders, with good political records to back up their campaign promises."

Read below for the complete results of this survey question

RESULTS - Question: Who are you considering supporting?
(only asked of undecided chairs)

Mitt Romney - 52%
Fred Thompson - 48%
Tommy Thompson 32%
Mike Huckabee - 28%
Tom Tancredo - 20%
Newt Gingrich - 16%
Rudy Giuliani - 16%
John Cox - 16%
Sam Brownback - 12%
Duncan Hunter - 8%
Ron Paul - 8%
John McCain - 4%

Methodology: IowaPolitics.com contacted county chairs by e-mail and followed up with phone calls to those who didn't respond initially. Forty-two Republican county chairs responded to the survey, which was conducted from late June through early August.