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Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, leads GOP Treasurer Josh Mandel by just 4 points in the new Ohio Newspaper Organization poll -- a smaller lead than other recent independent polling has showed.

The poll has Brown at 51 percent to Mandel's 47 percent, with just two percent of voters remaining undecided. The previous Ohio Newspaper Organization, in mid-September, had Brown up 7 points.

But Brown holds significant advantages among female and indepedent voters. Among women, he leads by 16 points. He has 54 percent support among independents to Mandel's 38 percent. That's up from the six point lead Brown held among independents last month.

The Ohio Newspaper Organization poll shows a tied presidential race, with 49 percent support for both President Obama and Mitt Romney.

The poll was conducted for the Ohio Newspaper Organization by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati from October 18-23, and surveyed 1,015 likely voters. The margin of error is plus-or-minus 3.1 percentage points.