Three of the four remaining Republican contenders are campaigning hard in Florida Wednesday, just less than a week before the key southern state holds its primary.

Mitt Romney will use a morning campaign stop in Orlando to deliver a rebuttal to the State of the Union address given by President Barack Obama Tuesday night.

Ahead of Obama's speech, the former Massachusetts governor suggested the president would avoid talking about economic problems under his leadership, such as the issue of unemployment.

Romney, whose campaign took a hit when he was defeated by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in South Carolina's primary over the weekend, will likely be hoping to wrest back some of his lost momentum by coming out swinging against the president.

A new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday suggests Romney and Gingrich are neck-and-neck in Florida, with Romney attracting 36% of votes from likely GOP voters to 34% for Gingrich.

The poll, which was conducted partially before and partially after Gingrich's South Carolina win -- but before the candidates' debate in Tampa Monday night -- shows a surge in support for Gingrich following his victory.

Florida, where 1.95 million people voted in the GOP primary in 2008, is a big prize for the Republican hopefuls.

Romney, Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum will try to woo the state's many Latino voters by taking part in a "Meet the Candidates" forum run by the Spanish-language television network Univision in Miami Wednesday.

Each will appear in a separate session, Univision said, with network anchor Jorge Ramos set to pose questions on issues ranging from the economy to education, health care and immigration.

More than one in 10 of the state's registered Republican voters are Latino, according to the Pew Research Center.

Gingrich, who has seen a surge in the polls since his win by a double-digit margin in South Carolina, will deliver a Latin American policy speech later at Florida International University.

Romney, meanwhile, will appear at a U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC Event in Miami, as he seeks to attract the vote of Florida's Cuban-American constituents.

Santorum is set to appear at a Republican Party rally in Naples Wednesday morning.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul has decided not to spend money in Florida because of his poor prospects in the winner-take-all primary. Instead, he is focusing on upcoming caucuses in Nevada, Colorado and Minnesota in a bid to win more delegates so he can wield influence at the Republican convention in August.

Florida is a key battleground and offers a different campaign landscape.

The number of Florida Republican voters exceeds the combined total in the previous three states, requiring a larger campaign organization and more money for advertising. Romney got a head start in the state over his rivals and is expected to receive a boost from the early voting that the state permits.

According to the state, at least 53,000 ballots had been cast in early voting that started on Saturday. Of the 475,000 people who requested and were sent absentee ballots, 180,000 had been filled out and sent back by last Wednesday. Those absentee votes came in before Gingrich rose in the polls and won South Carolina's primary.

Stephen Craig, a political science professor at the University of Florida, said Gingrich was definitely enjoying the benefits of momentum from that win.

As the Republican field shrinks, Gingrich may also be picking up support from the more conservative elements of the party as they rally around the remaining alternatives to Romney, he told CNN.

Opinion polls in Florida have been unusually volatile in the run-up to this year's primary, Craig said, with many potential voters still getting to know the candidates.

Only a week ago, Romney -- who has been put under pressure over his income and tax figures -- was polling well ahead, he added.

Obama was launching a two-day swing through key election states Wednesday, hot off the back of what could prove to be his final State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

He used the speech to argue that the nation was strengthening but must confront the defining issue of preserving the American dream, which he framed as a choice between opportunity for some or giving everyone a chance to prosper.

"No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules," he said.

Obama will begin his tour in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, before flying to Phoenix, Arizona, and then stopping in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the night.

Gingrich said at a campaign event in Sarasota, Florida, Tuesday that if elected president, his first acts would be to sign executive orders undoing policies of the Obama administration.

"Our goal is, in the executive orders that we sign on the first day, that by the time President Obama lands in Chicago, we will have dismantled about 40% of his administration," Gingrich said to cheers.

The official Republican response to the State of the Union address chided Obama for not addressing the nation's $15 trillion debt more forcefully and accused him of sowing division between Americans and in Congress.