The race between President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney has tightened among likely voters in Ohio, according to new polls from Quinnipiac University/CBS News and Suffolk University.
Obama leads Romney 50 percent to 45 percent in the Quinnipiac poll, a five-point lead that is down from a 10-point lead in the state last month. The poll was conducted Oct. 17-20, in the wake of the second presidential debate.
The Suffolk poll, also conducted after the second debate, actually shows Romney up a point when including leaners, 48 percent to 47 percent.
In both polls, respondents were more likely to say Obama won the debate than Romney, by wide margins.
Despite Romney’s slight lead in the Suffolk poll, more respondents said they connected better with Obama, and the president enjoyed a 7-point lead on handling foreign policy.
Ohio voters are evenly divided on which candidate they would trust most with the economy, but Obama has a lead in both polls when it comes to foreign policy, the subject of Monday night’s third and final debate. Half of the voters surveyed by Quinnipiac said they expect Obama to do a better job on foreign policy, while just 43 percent said Romney would do better.
Of those who already voted, 54 percent of those surveyed by Quinnipiac said they cast their ballot for the president, while 39 percent said they voted for Romney.
The Quinnipiac/CBS poll surveyed 1,582 likely voters with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.5 percentage points.
The Suffolk poll, conducted Oct. 18-21, surveyed 600 likely voters with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4 percentage points.
Ben Schreckinger contributed to this article.
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