Bachmann at second place in national poll

Presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has increased her share of likely Republican support to about 18 percent, according to a nationwide poll released today.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney maintains his lead, according to the poll, with 27 percent support. But Bachmann has fought her way to second place in the polls, despite a number of missteps and public controversies, including criticisms of the clinic run by Bachmann’s husband and leaks to a conservative website that Bachmann suffered from debilitating migraines.

It was just last month that Bachmann was stagnant at 7 percent in the Gallup poll. But it appears that recent gains in Iowa, where she’s taken a small lead in polls, have helped her profile nationwide.

The entrance of a number of other candidates like Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could eat into Bachmann’s support.

University of Iowa Professor Tim Hagle told the Minnesota Independent earlier this month that Palin’s entrance to the race doesn’t necessarily hurt Bachmann worse than it does other candidates because many of the Republican candidates are trying to pull from that same tea party base of support. The data from the poll seems to confirm Hagle’s observation, as a Palin run would hurt Bachmann’s campaign less than a Perry run.

The Gallup poll has a margin of error of four points and was conducted with 1,000 likely Republican voters between July 20-24.