"Crucial votes in Iowa and New Hampshire aren't the only places the presidential race is seeing a shake-up.

Columbus-based market research firm Opinion Consultants released the results of its latest Central Ohio CEO/Leaders Poll, which showed a change in candidate support from April. Nearly half of surveyed Republicans would vote for Sen. John McCain in a primary while Sen. Barack Obama came in a commanding first place on the Democratic side with 58 percent support. A similar poll conducted in April 2007 found that nearly half of all respondents supported none of the top three contenders on their party ticket.

The poll was conducted between Jan. 2 and Jan. 11, during the first two presidential contests, and included more than 200 area respondents. Obama and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee garnered the most support at the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3, while Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain won the New Hampshire primary Jan. 8.

McCain, with 48 percent support in the local poll, edged out former New York mayor and early Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani, who garnered 28 percent support, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney pulled in third place with 15 percent.

Mimicking the surprising results of the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus, Sen. John Edwards came in a distant second on the Democratic side with 17 percent support, while Clinton pulled a third-place finish with 14 percent. "