Latest Ohio GOP prez poll shows tight race

CINCINNATI (AP) — The latest Ohio Republican presidential poll shows a toss-up race between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney heading into the final weekend before the primary.

The Quinnipiac University poll today gave former Pennsylvania Sen. Santorum 35 percent to 31 percent for former Massachusetts Gov. Romney. The lead of 4 percentage points is within the poll’s margin of error and tighter than a Quinnipiac poll released Monday that gave Santorum a 36-29 percentage point lead.

Both candidates have multiple Ohio stops this weekend.

As Super Tuesday neared, another Ohio poll found President Barack Obama’s approval rating on the rise — but still under 50 percent.

The University of Cincinnati’s Ohio Poll suggested that Ohioans are in a slightly better mood toward leaders of both parties as the economy improves. A Friday report showed Ohio’s unemployment rate fell for the third month in a row in January, to 7.7 percent.

The Ohio Poll found that Republican Gov. John Kasich’s approval rating rose among Ohioans, to 44 percent from 42 percent in July. It’s the first time since Kasich took office in January 2011 that the poll found more voters approve than disapprove of his performance.