Sandy Scrambles Presidential Contest [VIDEO]

Steering clear of the superstorm bearing down on the East Coast, Republican Mitt Romney returns to battleground Ohio to woo voters nine days before the election.

The GOP presidential hopeful had planned to campaign Sunday in Virginia, but will instead join running mate Paul Ryan in Ohio. The weather threat also left President Barack Obama's campaign schedule in flux.

The storm presents both sides with a most unlikely October surprise as polls continue to show an extraordinarily tight race.

Hurricane Sandy has each camp discarding carefully mapped-out itineraries as they work to maximize voter turnout while avoiding any appearance of putting politics ahead of public safety.

Romney campaigned Saturday in Florida while Obama worked to nail down New Hampshire's four electoral votes.

Obama plans to fly to Florida late Sunday.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)