The Suffolk University/NBC12 poll shows President Obama leading Republican candidate Mitt Romney just 46-44 percent, showing the race in the key battleground state is still extremely close.
Obama had previously appeared to be building momentum with recent polls giving him a seven and eight-point leads.
The poll also showed Senate race tied, with Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen getting 44 percent each.
Suffolk’s press release notes:
The [presidential] race is close – with survey results within the statistical margin of error – despite a decided popularity advantage for Obama. He boasted a +8 (52 percent favorable to 44 percent unfavorable) to Romney’s -3 (42 percent favorable to 45 percent unfavorable).
“Barack Obama shows personal popularity and strength, especially outside of the D.C. area in northern Virginia,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. “However, with job approval and head-to-head numbers stuck at 46 percent, it will be a significant challenge for Obama to convince the remaining undecided voters to re-elect him.”
Of the other three presidential candidates remaining on the Virginia ballot, Constitution Party nominee Virgil Goode and Libertarian Gary Johnson each received 1 percent, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein tallied less than 1 percent.
The poll of 600 likely voters was conducted Sept. 24-26 and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
