DURHAM —A new poll has President Barack Obama back on top in the race for New Hampshire’s four electoral votes.

After a series of recent polls showing Republican Mitt Romney has caught or is closing on Obama, a new Granite State Poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center shows Obama with an 8 percentage point lead — 49 to 41 percent — with 2 percent favoring some other candidate and 7 percent undecided.

A UNH-conducted poll on Oct. 1 had Obama with a 52 to 37 percent lead in New Hampshire. A week later, on Oct. 9, a UNH-conducted poll showed Obama with a lead of 47 to 41 percent.

The poll released on Monday was conducted between Oct. 17 and 21, interviewed 773 randomly selected New Hampshire likely voters and has a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

According to the survey center, Obama leads among women by 57 to 34 percent while Romney has a slight edge among men, 49 to 42 percent. The race is tied at 48 percent among those who say they are extremely interested in the election.

UNH says each candidate is “securing” his base. Obama currently has the support of 94 percent of Democrats, including those who are undecided but lean to him, and Romney has the support of 91 percent of Republicans, including those who lean to him.

Independents are statistically tied with 37 percent favoring Romney and 39 percent favoring Obama.

UNH pointed out that fewer Granite Staters now believe Obama will win the election, although more still believe Obama will win than believe Romney will win. Forty-six percent now think Obama will win as compared to 61 percent two weeks ago, while 31 percent think Romney will win, UNH said.

John DiStaso, Senior Political Reporter