Dave Boyer The Washington Times - May 10, 2012, 09:00AM

President Obama and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney are in a statistical tie in Ohio, and the potential addition of home-state Sen. Rob Portman as Mr. Romney’s running mate makes no difference, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.

Mr. Obama gets 45 percent to Mr. Romney’s 44 percent in the survey, which has a margin of error of 3 percentage points. The same poll on Feb. 15 had Mr. Obama leading Mr. Romney by 46 percent to 44 percent.

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The latest poll found that Mr. Portman wouldn’t move the needle in Ohio as Mr. Romney’s running mate, showing a 45-45 tie between the tickets with the senator included. Fifty-nine percent of Ohioans said they don’t know enough about Mr. Portman to form an opinion.

Republicans never have won the White House without capturing Ohio.