Four Republicans have emerged as the clear early (err, very early) frontrunners in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, according to a recently concluded series of Public Policy Polling (D) surveys. The favorite of the bunch? Not so clear.

The last survey, from a series of three, considered how the Republican primaries might play out in Alaska, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, and Washington. Sarah Palin had favorable results in two of the states— though neither were her home state. In both Washington and Ohio, she holds a narrow lead over the three other top Republican contenders, while in Alaska, she finds herself sitting in fourth.

Mike Huckabee is narrowly ahead in Alaska, while also leading by seven in Kentucky. Mitt Romney earns a 13-point lead in Nevada, and for the first time in this survey's series, Newt Gingrich holds a lead, up four in North Carolina.

Potential candidates Mitch Daniels, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Pence and John Thune all fail to earn a single double-digit yield in the last six states surveyed.

A look at the latest results, along with the rest of the series' findings, broken down by state:

Republished with permission from TalkingPointsMemo.com. Authored by Marc Kilstein. Photos via Getty. TPM provides breaking news, investigating reporting and smart analysis of politics.