In North Carolina, where the Democratic faithful have descended to hold their convention, a new poll shows that Mitt Romney and President Obama are running closely in the state.
In an Elon University Poll, 47 percent of likely voters are supporting the Republican candidate, Mr. Romney, and 43 percent are supporting Mr. Obama, a difference that is within the margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points on each candidate.
In 2008, Mr. Obama eked out a victory in North Carolina, edging out Senator John McCain by less than a half a percentage point, or about 14,000 votes. The Elon University Poll, conducted in partnership with The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer from Aug. 25 to 30, showed Mr. Romney held an advantage among men, whites, and higher-income and older voters in North Carolina. Mr. Obama's support came from younger, lower-income and black voters. Mr. Romney had a six-point edge among independents, while women were nearly evenly divided.
With the economy or jobs named as the most important issue of their vote this November, a majority of North Carolina voters also said Mr. Romney would do better at handling the economy. Voters were divided over which candidate shared their values most closely, with slightly more saying that Mr. Obama would do a better job handling relations with other countries.
The poll was conducted with live interviewers by cellphone and landline among 1,089 likely voters.
