Polls: Obama Leads Romney in Mich., Iowa; Close Race in N.H., Wis

Lara Seligman

President Obama holds a 6-point lead over Mitt Romney in Michigan, according to a new Detroit Free Press/WXYZ-TV poll released on Wednesday.

The poll shows Obama leading Romney 48 percent to 42 percent among likely voters, up from a 3-point lead after the first presidential debate, in which Obama's s flat performance sparked a Romney surge.

New Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist polls also show Obama edging Romney by 6 percentage points among likely voters in Iowa, but with only narrow leads in New Hampshire and Wisconsin.

In Iowa, Obama received the support of 50 percent of likely voters, while Romney garnered just 44 percent. In New Hampshire, Obama edged Romney 49 percent to 47 percent, and in Wisconsin the president lead 49 percent to 46 percent. 

Michigan, where Romney’s father served as governor, is home to some 800,000 auto-industry jobs, and both candidates have focused on the sector throughout the presidential race. Obama’s campaign has contrasted the president’s role in bailing out the industry with a 2008 New York Times op-ed Romney wrote that was headlined “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” contending that Romney would have let the auto industry fail.

Romney's campaign pushed back this week with a controversial TV ad that claims that Chrysler is now planning to move Jeep production to China, though Chrysler has stated that it has “no intention” of shifting Jeep production abroad and the Obama campaign rebutted the attack with its own ad.

The Detroit Free Press/WXYZ-TV poll was conducted Oct. 26-28 among 600 likely voters, with a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

The WSJ/NBC News/Marist polls were conducted between Oct. 28 and Oct. 29. The Iowa poll surveyed 1,464 adults, with a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points. Within that sample, there were 1,142 likely voters, with a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points. The New Hampshire poll surveyed 1,423 adults, with a margin of error of 2.6 points; there were 1,013 likely voters, with a margin of error of 3.1 points. The Wisconsin poll surveyed 1,440 adults, with a margin of error of 2.6 points; there were 1,065 likely voters, with a margin of error of 3 points.