Latest Ohio Polls Are In...Clinton and McCain Lead

Ohio voters prefer Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama by 8 points, and John McCain has a double-digit lead over Mike Huckabee, according to the results from the latest Ohio Poll.

The poll queried people likely to vote in the Democratic and Republican primaries on March 4. The results:

• 47 percent of likely Democratic voters would cast their ballots for Clinton, versus 39 percent for Obama. Another 9 percent favored John Edwards, who has suspended his campaign; 2 percent would vote for other candidates and 4 percent are undecided.
• 55 percent of likely Republican voters would vote for McCain, versus 20 percent for Huckabee. Another 9 percent would choose Mitt Romney, who has also suspended his campaign; 5 percent favor Ron Paul; 8 percent support other candidates and 3 percent are undecided.
• 41 percent of Democratic respondents named the economy/jobs as their biggest concern, followed by health care/health insurance (25 percent) and the war in Iraq/Iraq policy (16 percent).
• 30 percent of Republican respondents felt the economy/jobs was the top issue, followed by homeland security/national defense (16 percent); and the war in Iraq/Iraq policy (9 percent).

The Ohio Poll is conducted by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. Telephone interviews were conducted with 529 likely Democratic voters and 312 likely Republican voters from Feb. 21 through Feb. 24.