McCain leads Romney in Michigan

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican John McCain holds a slim lead on rival Mitt Romney in Michigan one day before the state's hotly contested presidential nominating contest, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Monday.

McCain, an Arizona senator who won the New Hampshire primary last week, narrowly leads Romney 27 percent to 24 percent among likely Republican voters in Michigan, within the poll's margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who was raised in Michigan, is hunting for a breakthrough win in the state on Tuesday to keep his White House hopes alive after second-place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"It's very close, and it has been close every day that we have polled," said pollster John Zogby. The rolling survey of 915 likely Republican primary voters was taken Friday through Sunday.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won Iowa's kick-off contest, was third at 15 percent in Michigan. He was followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 8 percent, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at 6 percent and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson at 5 percent.

The Republican primary in Michigan is the latest battleground in the state-by-state fight to choose candidates for November's election to succeed President George W. Bush.

Democrats also will hold a primary in Michigan, but a dispute between the state and national party led top Democratic candidates Barack Obama and John Edwards to keep their names off the ballot. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York is the only top contender listed.

MCCAIN LEADS AMONG DEMOCRATS, INDEPENDENTS