Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney were in a statistical dead heat on the eve of the Republican primary election in Michigan, a new Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll shows.
The survey shows McCain with a tiny 27% to 26% edge over Romney, with Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee a distant third at 15% support. About 8% of voters said they were undecided a potentially critical factor in such a close election.
There will be no official Democratic primary because of a spat between the state party organization and the Democratic National Committee.
Romney kept his lead in Detroit with 31% support, compared to McCain’s 26% backing, but McCain beats Romney soundly in the more sparsely populated Peninsula region, 32% to 13%. McCain also leads by 10 points in the conservative western part of the state, and the two are tied in the central region. Huckabee, meanwhile, has about 18% support in the west and central parts of the state, and 11% in Detroit and the peninsula.
Statewide, women favor McCain over Romney, 30% to 26%. Among men, McCain gets 24% support, compared to Romney’s 26%. The sexes seem to like Huckabee equally - he has support from 16% of men and 14% of women.
Very few of the youngest voters - just 9% - appear to like Romney. McCain gets 26% of their support and Huckabee 23%. However, Romney enjoys support from older voters, attracting support in the mid- to high 20% range for the rest of the age groups. Romney has an edge over McCain with voters aged 30 to 49, while those over age 65 like McCain a little better.
Romney still holds the lead among Republicans, 31% to 22%. Huckabee is also popular with Republicans, getting close to McCain with 21% support. McCain continues to draw more independent voters. About 33% of those not registered with any party say they’ll support the Arizona senator, to 24% for Romney and 10% for Huckabee.