Ohio Poll Shows Santorum and Romney Tied Mitt Romney's recent victories in Michigan and Arizona may have given him a slight lift in Ohio, but Rick Santorum is still a strong and viable candidate for a number of voter groups, despite his loss in Michigan. A new Quinnipiac University poll in Ohio, which holds its primary on Tuesday, shows Mr. Santorum and Mr. Romney in a dead heat, with Mr. Santorum drawing the support of 35 percent of likely Republican primary voters to Mr. Romney's 31 percent, a difference that is within the poll's margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The poll, conducted Wednesday and Thursday, shows the race tightening from an earlier survey conducted just before Tuesday's primaries in Michigan and Arizona, in which Mr. Santorum had a 36 to 29 percent advantage over Mr. Romney. The recent poll results show Mr. Santorum derives his strength from white evangelical Christians, conservatives and Tea Party supporters, while Mr. Romney draws support from moderates and older voters. Mr. Santorum also has stronger support among those with no college degree - 36 percent, compared with 27 percent for Mr. Romney, which may indicate that Mr. Romney is having trouble winning over blue-collar workers in the Midwest. Ohio's 2008 exit poll results show that more than 6 in 10 Republican primary voters did not hold college degrees, making these voters an essential bloc for the candidates. In Michigan, Mr. Santorum had the support of 39 percent of voters without college degrees, compared with 37 percent for Mr. Romney, according to exit polls there. There has been scant evidence of a gender gap between the two candidates of late, despite criticism that Mr. Santorum's stance on some birth control and women's health issues could alienate Republican women. The Ohio Quinnipiac poll shows Mr. Santorum with a 37 percent advantage over Mr. Romney's 33 percent with women, a basic tie. As for men, Mr. Santorum again garners more of the male Republicans, 34 percent to 28 percent. And the race is very much in flux - with just five days until Ohio's primary on Super Tuesday, a third of likely voters said they might still change their minds before the election. The Quinnipiac survey was conducted in Ohio among 517 likely Republican primary voters and included live interviewers calling land lines and cellphones.