President Barack Obama has a narrow advantage over Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in Ohio according to a new poll released Thursday which also found the race for the White House locked up in Florida and Virginia.
The NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls came out hours after another survey of likely voters, conducted by the American Research Group, found Ohio to be statistically tied.
But the numbers could be evidence of a post-convention bump for the incumbent president. A CNN/ORC International poll of likely voters nationwide released Monday found Obama six points ahead of Romney, although the results were within the survey's sampling error.
In Thursday's polls, Ohio likely voters split 50% for Obama, 43% Romney, according NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, with 83% strongly supporting their candidate of choice.
Voters in both Florida and Virginia split 49% for Obama and 44% for Romney, a five point difference within the poll's sampling error of 3.1.
The polls were conducted between Sunday, September 9 and Tuesday, September 11, following the close of the Democratic National Convention.
In the three states, Obama's approval rating was at or just below the 50% mark and his favorability ratings were just above 50%. Meanwhile, more voters in each of the three states thought the country was on the wrong track than thought it was on the right track. The survey conductors noted this number was improving and between 42% and 45% in all three states.
On the question of who would best handle the economy, likely voters' opinions were mixed.
Florida voters picked Romney over Obama, 47% to 46%; Ohio voters went for Obama over Romney; 48% to 44%; and in Virginia, voters were evenly divided.
The NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls in the three battleground states came on the same day the ARG poll released results showing races in Ohio and Colorado separated by less than two points. Thursday morning, an EPIC/MRA survey of likely voters found 47% supporting Obama and 37% supporting Romney, with 16% unsure who they would support.
Florida, Ohio, and Virginia are among the nine toss up states on the CNN Electoral Map. Florida is also the largest toss up prize on the map with 29 electoral votes, while Ohio is the second largest with 18 and Virginia has 13.
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