Reuters-Ipsos Ohio Republican Primary Poll

5 March 2012

Washington, DC - The Reuters-Ipsos Ohio Republican Primary online poll released March 4, 2012 shows this is a very tight race. Our data shows this race as a TIE at 32% each for Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

Also of significant interest, when asked why they were supporting a particular candidate (Q5), 44% of Romney backers said it was cause their candidate stood the best chance of beating Obama and 37% said it was because their candidate would do more to improve the economy. This is significantly different from Santorum backers, 56% of whom said they were backing Santorum because he shared their values and beliefs.

These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters from March 1st - 3rd, 2012. For the survey, a sample of 917 likely voters in the Ohio Republican Primary was interviewed online. Likely voters are defined via a seven-item summated Index, including questions on voter registration, voting in previous elections, probability of voting in the upcoming election and interest in following news about the campaign. This index is then transformed by logistic regression into estimated probabilities of voting. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online surveys but this poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points for registered voters. For more information about credibility intervals, please see the appendix.

The tracking data presented in these findings are the result of the previous three days of surveying. As we near the election, data from earlier dates will be dropped from the tracking total.

The data were weighted to Ohio current population registered voter data by gender, age, education, ethnicity and a political values scale. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. Figures marked by an asterisk (*) indicate a percentage value of greater than zero but less than one half of a percent. Where figures do not sum to 100, this is due to the effects of rounding.

More data and full technical details are available in the topline document attached.

For more information on this news release please contact:

Chris Jackson Research Director, Public Sector Practice Ipsos Public Affairs 202.420.2011 [email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. In October 2011 Ipsos completed the acquisition of Synovate. The combination forms the world's third largest market research company.

With offices in 84 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of e1,363 billion (1.897 billion USD) in 2011.