Evangelical voters propelled Mike Huckabee to first place in the 2008 Iowa caucuses. So far this season they’ve been split, with the two candidates seemingly best tailored to appeal to them, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, underperforming spectacularly. Will evangelicals now solidify behind Santorum? They’re giving him a boost, but CNN’s breakdown from Dec. 28 showed a wide-open race among the born again:

“Most of Santorum’s gains have come among likely caucus participants who are born-again or evangelical, and he now tops the list among that crucial voting bloc, with support from 22% of born-agains compared to 18% for Paul, 16% for Romney, and 14% for Gingrich,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland

The most interesting figure there is Paul’s 18 percent. His apparent weakness has been that much of his support derives from independents and Democrats, people who probably won’t vote in large numbers in the GOP caucuses. If he has succeeded in winning over nearly a fifth of evangelicals, though — and if the rest don’t unite behind Santorum or Romney, a dicier proposition — the Texas congressman may indeed have the Republican support he needs to repeat Huckabee’s feat. (If not his 34 percent take.)