Poll: Obama leads Mitt Romney in 3 critical swing states

GlobalPost

President Barack Obama has pulled ahead of GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney in three key states, a poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University shows.

In Florida, Obama now tops Romney 49 percent to 42 percent; while beating Rick Santorum 50 percent to 37 percent. In Ohio, Obama beats Romney 47 to 41 percent and Santorum 47 to 40 percent; while he edges Romney 45 to 42 percent, and tops Santorum 48 to 41 percent in Pennsylvania, The Huffington Post reported.

More from GlobalPost: Obama gaining approval among women

Two months ago, Obama and Romney were in a statistical tie in Ohio and Florida, Yahoo! News reported.

Female voters are making a difference for Obama, according to the poll. They back the president 6 to 19 percentage points in the three states, while matchups among men are too close to call.

"President Barack Obama is on a roll in the key swing states. If the election were today, he would carry at least two states. And if history repeats itself, that means he would be re-elected," Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, told Yahoo!.

More from GlobalPost: Obama campaign raised $45 million in February

Meanwhile, a Washington Post/ABC News poll also released Wednesday shows Romney also trailing in the popularity arena.

Half of all Americans now express unfavorable views of the former Massachusetts governor, his highest disapproval ratings to date, the Washington Post reported

In contrast, 53 percent of Americans hold favorable views of Obama, according to the poll.

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