Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican presidential nominee John McCain in battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, according to new polls.

    Obama, an Illinois senator, leads 49 percent to 42 percent among Ohio voters, according to a Columbus Dispatch poll of 2,262 likely voters released yesterday.

    The survey, conducted Sept. 24 to Oct. 3, shows a change from a poll by the newspaper before the parties' nominating conventions, when McCain had a single percentage-point advantage. The state is crucial to the Arizona senator's campaign, because no Republican has won the presidency without carrying Ohio.

    Polls in Ohio "are showing increased support for Barack Obama," because voters are paying attention to McCain's support for privatizing Social Security, backing "job-killing trade agreements," and his backing of deregulation of the banking system, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown said on ABC's "This Week" program yesterday.

    A Minnesota poll of 1,084 likely voters published by the Star Tribune newspaper shows Obama leading 55-37 percent over McCain. The poll was conducted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.

    Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota said the Star Tribune poll is "notoriously not accurate," and said a separate earlier poll found McCain favored by 1 percentage point.

    "Minnesota is a Democrat-leaning state, but not so much that it's implausible for a Republican to win here," Pawlenty said on "This Week."

    Pennsylvania Poll

    In Pennsylvania, Obama has a 50 percent to 40 percent lead over McCain, according to a Morning Call/Muhlenberg College tracking poll.

    The Muhlenberg College poll surveyed 597 likely voters and was conducted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3. The results of the three state polls were outside the margin for error.

    The presidential race in Colorado remains a tie, according to a poll released by the Denver Post yesterday.

    National polls also show that Obama is maintaining a lead over McCain.

    Obama led McCain 49 percent to 42 percent among registered voters surveyed Sept. 27-29 by the Pew Research Center. In a mid- September poll, the candidates were in a statistical dead heat.

    In a CBS News poll conducted Sept. 27-30, Obama led 50 percent to 41 percent among likely voters. The margin increased 4 percentage points from a CBS/New York Times survey a week earlier.