Both the presidential contest between President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney and Ohio's U.S. Senate race are dead heats, according to an Ohio Pollreleased this morning by University of Cincinnati's Institute for Policy Research.
Obama holds a 3 percentage point advantage over Romney among likely Ohio voters, 49 percent to 46 percent - within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent.
The U.S. Senate race that pits Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown against Republican Josh Mandel, the state treasurer, is even tighter - 48 percent for Brown, 47 percent for Mandel.
But the poll showed, too, that nearly one in every five voters - 17 percent - said they may change their minds about the presidential race between now and the Nov. 6 election, or are as yet undecided. Another 21 percent said they are still trying to decide in the Brown-Mandel contest - one of the most important Senate races in the country, with control of the U.S. Senate potentially hanging in the balance.
A majority of voters (51 percent) cited economic issues as the most important consideration in making their decisions.
The poll was conducted Aug. 16-21 among 847 likely Ohio voters, who were interviewed by landline and cell phones.
