Obama, Romney deadlocked in swing states

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PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Voters in a dozen swing states said they're evenly divided between President Obama and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, a Gallup poll indicated.

Results released Monday also indicated voters in the 12 states gave a 14 percentage-point edge to Obama over Republican Newt Gingrich, as well as expressing a preference for Obama over Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.

The results are from the third Gallup-USA Today Swing States poll, which tracks registered voters in 12 states considered among the most crucial to winning the 2012 presidential election, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said. The states are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. National results are based on Jan. 27-28 Gallup Daily tracking of registered voters.

Romney held a 48 percent-to-47 percent edge over Obama in swing states, but the two were tied at 48 percent among national registered voters, Gallup said.

Gingrich trails Obama by 14 percentage points -- 54 percent to 40 percent -- in the swing states and by 12 percentage points nationally, 53 percent to 41 percent.

Obama led Paul and Santorum in swing states by 7 percentage points, at 50 percent to 43 percent and 51 percent to 44 percent, respectively. Nationally, Paul trails Obama by 3 percentage points, 49 percent to 46 percent, and Santorum is behind by 8 percentage points, 51 percent to 43 percent, Gallup said.

Results for swing-state residents are based on telephone interviews with 737 registered voters conducted Tuesday through Saturday. The margin of error is 5 percentage points.

Results for the national sample are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 907 registered voters conducted Saturday and Sunday. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.