President Barack Obama holds a relatively narrow lead of six points over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Oregon, according to a new poll conducted for The Oregonian.

Obama's lead is considerably smaller than his margin of victory in Oregon four years ago and is a sign of how tight the presidential race has become across the nation.

In addition, the poll also found that an initiative to legalize marijuana, Measure 80 is failing, with 49 percent opposed and 42 percent in favor. Voters are even more strongly opposed to two pro-casino measures --82 and 83 -- that even their sponsors gave up on.

Secretary of State Kate Brown holds a 15-point lead over Republican challenger Knute Buehler, but more than a third of the voters are still undecided. And fully 53 percent of voters say they don't know whether they will vote for Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian or challenger Bruce Starr.

Lastly, 52 percent of voters said they backed Measure 85, which would divert corporate "kicker" tax rebates to education. Another 33 percent are opposed.

The Thursday-through-Sunday survey of 405 likely voters was conducted by Elway Research of Seattle, an independent polling firm, and has a margin of error of five percentage points, plus or minus.

2012 polling

It shows Obama leading Romney 47 percent to 41 percent, with 8 percent undecided. Three percent of voters said they would vote for someone else and 1 percent said they would not vote in the race.

Democratic officials continued to express optimism that Obama would win Oregon, which hasn't gone for a Republican presidential candidate since 1984. But Republican activists said GOP voters in the state have shown a boost of enthusiasm that has energized Romney voters in recent weeks.

"We are seeing incredible enthusiasm at the grass-roots level," said Greg Leo, executive director of the Oregon Republican Party. He said the demand for lawn signs surged around the state following Romney's strong showing in the first debate.

Trent Lutz, executive director of the Democratic Party of Oregon, noted that "we've had a number of close statewide elections" that almost always wind up going to Democrats. He said he was confident that the president still retains the support of most Oregon voters and that the Obama campaign has a stronger get-out-the-vote operation in the state that will pay dividends.

Pollster Stuart Elway said Romney has gained nationally as he's picked up more support from Democratic women. In Oregon, Obama holds a two-point lead among men and a 10-point lead among women.

Oregon is one of three states with marijuana legalization measures on the ballot – the other two are in Washington and Colorado – and the new poll shows that this one is the least likely to pass. It's also the least restrictive of the three in that it doesn't place any limits on how much an adult can grow or possess.

Roy Kaufmann, the spokesman for the Yes on 80 campaign, said pollsters often miss younger voters who are harder to reach and that many older voters may be reluctant to admit their support to a stranger "on an issue that's still considered by many to be taboo."

The campaign "still has work to do, but we're within fighting distance," he said.

The poll shows that Democrats and voters 35 and under support legalization while Republicans and voters over 65 are strongly opposed. Men are almost equally divided while women are opposed, with 52 percent against and 37 percent in support.

The two casino measures, aimed at siting a big gaming operation in Wood Village, are opposed by a whopping two-thirds of voters, despite a $5 million campaign waged by proponents before they called it quits two weeks ago.

The two most competitive statewide races – for secretary of state and labor commissioner – are still off the radar screens of many voters.

Brown, the Democratic secretary of state, is favored by 38 percent of voters while Buehler is at 23 percent. Three minor-party candidates each are supported by one percent of voters and 36 percent are undecided.

Brown spokeswoman Jillian Schoene said the campaign is focused on getting their voters out – not the snapshot of the race seen in the poll. "People have ballots in their hands," she said. "Our job is to make sure they turn them in for Kate Brown.

Despite Brown's lead, Buehler spokesman Kevin Curry said the high number of undecided voters was a sign of trouble for the incumbent.

"We're reading the undecideds as people who are looking at his race and saying we need a change, said Curry, adding that being so far below 50 percent in support is a danger sign for an incumbent.

The survey showed that 47 percent of Republicans were undecided in the secretary of state's race compared to 26 percent of Democrats.

In the non-partisan labor commissioner's race, Avakian and Starr are both struggling to make an impression. Avakian, a Democrat who has held the office since 2008, is backed by 26 percent of voters compared to 20 percent for Starr, a state senator from Hillsboro.

What's unclear is how many voters will even participate in the race. Four years ago, when Avakian faced weak competition, the race only attracted a little over half as many votes as the presidential contest.

Avakian was quick to put out a fundraising letter saying he was pleased to have a lead but said he needed funding to reach out to the "whopping 53 percent" who are undecided.

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