Today's Quinnipiac University poll shows President Barack Obama ahead of Republican Mitt Romney and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown surging far ahead of Republican senatorial candidate Josh Mandel.
The poll, released today (June 27), showed Obama narrowly edging his Republican rival Mitt Romney in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio -- three battlegrounds that went for Obama in 2008 but will be toss ups in November.
The polls from Quinnipiac University showed Obama with a razor-thin four point advantage in Florida, 45%-41%. That was within the poll's 2.8% sampling error.
In Pennsylvania, Obama led Romney 45%-39%, and in Ohio, the Democratic incumbent was ahead 47%-38%.
In the U.S. Senate race in Ohio, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, leads Republican state Treasurer Josh Mandel by 16 points.
In the previous survey, released on May 10, Brown led 46 percent to 40 percent over Mandel, who is also an Iraq War veteran and former state legislator.
Voters in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania support President Barack Obama's new immigration policy and are divided on whether the president or Gov. Mitt Romney would be better for their personal economic future, as they give Obama leads in these three critical swing states, a razor thin 4 points in Florida, a healthy 9 points in Ohio and 6 points in Pennsylvania.
See entire Quinnipiac University Poll June 27
This compares to the results of a May 3 Swing State Poll showing Obama with an 8-point lead in Pennsylvania with Florida and Ohio too close to call.
"President Barack Obama has decent margins over Gov. Mitt Romney in Ohio and Pennsylvania and a smaller advantage in Florida. If he can keep those leads in all three of these key swing states through election day he would be virtually assured of re-election," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"Of course the election is more than four months away, which is a lifetime in politics," Brown added. "The president's overall margin is built on his big lead among women, younger voters and African-Americans. In Florida, on the heels of the president's order that will prevent the deportation of some younger illegal immigrants, he holds a big lead among Hispanic voters.
WKYC-TV