A pair of new polls finds President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney statistically tied in North Carolina, while the president holds a solid lead in Virginia.
The Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling survey in North Carolina finds Obama narrowly leading Romney 47 to 46 percent, despite Romney’s edge among independents. That lead is well within the survey's 3.5 percentage point margin of error.
In June, PPP found Romney ahead by two points in North Carolina - the difference between the two surveys is also within the poll's margin of error.
Respondents in the Tar Heel state hold a negative view of both candidates. Fifty percent of likely voters disapprove of Obama’s job performance, while only 47 percent approve, and a narrow plurality of voters view Romney unfavorably.
In Virginia, PPP finds Obama with a much more comfortable lead over his rival at 50 percent to 42 percent. He led Romney by an identical margin in their previous poll from late April. Obama now leads Romney by 11 points among independents, up from a two point deficit two months ago.
Romney is deeply unpopular in Virginia, with 51 percent of voters viewing him unfavorably and just 38 percent viewing him favorably.
The Virginia survey finds that selecting a native-son running mate wouldn’t significantly improve Romney’s standing in the state. Even with the state's Gov. Bob McDonnell on the ticket, Romney still trails by seven points.
In both states, respondents are evenly split on the Supreme Court’s ruling on the health care reform bill, and they disapprove of the new immigration policy announced by Obama two weeks ago.
The Public Policy Polling surveys conducted automated telephone interviews with 775 registered North Carolina voters and 647 registered Virginia voters from July 5-8. The margin of error for the North Carolina survey is 3.5 percent and 3.9 percent for the Virginia survey.
HuffPost Pollster's trend estimate of the race, which takes into account all available public polling, shows Romney leading 46.4 to 45.3 percent.
In Virginia, HuffPost Pollster estimates that Obama is ahead 47.8 to 44.5 percent.