Latest 2012 Election Polls in Wisconsin and Iowa: Obama Leading Over Romney in Both Battleground States

President Barack Obama is holding his own in battleground states Iowa and Wisconsin.

The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist Poll shows the president is leading over opponent Mitt Romney 51 percent to Romney's 43 percent in Iowa.

NBC News says that margin is the same as the last month's poll results.

The surveys, conducted Oct. 15 to 17, showed in Wisconsin, Obama leads likely voters 51 percent to Romney's 45 percent.

"These two battleground states combined account for just 16 electoral votes in this presidential contest. But they play a large role in each campaign's path to securing the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the White House," NBC says. "If Obama wins both Iowa and Wisconsin, according to NBC's latest battleground map, he could reach or surpass 270 electoral votes by either winning: 1) just Ohio; 2) a combination of Colorado, Nevada and New Hampshire; or 3) a combination New Hampshire and Virginia."

The race is closer in the Midwest than anywhere else. The Wall Street Journal said that in the last poll taken, the two candidates were very close-Obama had 49 percent of support to Romney's 47.

Some Iowans have already made their minds up about whom they are choosing to run the country. NBC says of the 34 percent of likely voters who have cast their ballots, 67 percent of them said Obama has their vote, and Romney has 32 percent.

Don't let the early ballot numbers fool you. While Obama has the most votes during the early voting period, one-third of likely voters in Iowa, 68 percent of Romney's supporters expressed "a high level of enthusiasm" for the upcoming election to Obama's 63 percent.

The article said a large number, 64 percent, of Romney voters said they are "very excited" to vote for the republican candidate, as opposed to the 53 percent of Obama supporters.