June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Barack Obama is leading Republican John McCain in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, the first time he's had an advantage in all three electoral battleground states, a Quinnipiac University poll found.

Obama got a boost in support after securing the Democratic nomination in the final round of primaries June 3 and following the departure of Senator Hillary Clinton from the race, said Peter A. Brown, assistant director for the Hamden, Connecticut, university's polling institute.

"Obama is certainly not out of the woods, but these results are a good indication that he enters the summer slightly ahead in the race to be the next president," Brown said in a statement.

Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio together have 68 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency and have swung between both parties in recent presidential elections. No candidate has won the presidency since 1960 without taking at least two of the three.