Former Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney is locked in a statistical dead heat with Sarah Palin for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, despite the Alaska governor’s abrupt resignation last week, according to a new poll of Republican voters. Romney leads all Republican presidential contenders, garnering 25 percent of the vote, edging out Palin (24 percent), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (22) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (14 percent) in the Rasmussen poll released yesterday.