McCain and Romney in virtual dead heat in Michigan

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney inched into a virtual dead heat with rival John McCain in Michigan hours before voting began in the state's presidential nominating contest, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.

McCain, the Arizona senator, held a statistically insignificant 1-point edge over Romney, 27 percent to 26 percent, well within the margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, gained 2 points overnight and McCain held steady in the tracking poll. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was in third place at 15 percent.

Pollster John Zogby said Romney's movement in the final day was slight and polling over four days revealed a stable and exceedingly close race between the two Republican rivals.

"If there is momentum in this race, it's hard for me to see it," Zogby said. The latest rolling survey of 824 likely Republican primary voters was taken Sunday and Monday.

"It's just as tight as it ever was," Zogby said. "It's a razor-thin margin all around."

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

Romney, who was raised in Michigan, needs a breakthrough win in the state to keep his White House hopes alive after second-place finishes in earlier contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.