Poll: Locked up race in North Carolina

The presidential race in North Carolina is neck and neck between President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney, a new survey released Monday indicates.

The Elon University Poll shows the two candidates tied at 45 percent apiece in the Tar Heel State, where 15 electoral votes are up for grabs

Several recent surveys indicated Romney with a slight advantage in the state, and in a sign of confidence about their chances there, the Romney campaign recently began shifting some staffers out of North Carolina and into Ohio and other key states.

Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod said on a conference call with reporters on Monday the incumbent believes North Carolina is "very much in play."

"We've added money over the last few weeks on television there and we're going after it," he said. "We're going to do everything within our power to win the state of North Carolina."

While the Democratic National Convention was held in Charlotte, Obama has not campaigned in the state since his nomination acceptance speech at the convention in early September.

Likely voters split on who would best handle the economy -- 52 percent for Romney and 42 percent for Obama -- and foreign policy, which divided by the same margin in favor of Obama.

Obama has an advantage over Romney among women, 51 percent to 40 percent, while Romney has a similar margin among men, 51 percent to 39 percent.

It is too early to tell the extent of Hurricane Sandy's impact on voting in the state. Some polling places which would have been open for early voting were closed over the weekend as the hurricane sacked the state, especially the Outer Banks. According to the poll, Obama leads among those who have already voted, 55 percent to 37 percent, though Romney has an edge among likely voters who have yet to cast ballots, 48 percent to 43 percent.

North Carolina was a toss up state on the CNN Electoral Map but was shifted earlier this month to leaning in Romney's favor. Other news organizations also shifted North Carolina to lean Romney.

The poll was conducted between Oct. 21-26, mostly after the final presidential debate between Obama and Romney. It included 1,238 likely voters in North Carolina and had a sampling error of plus or minus 2.79 percent.