MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) -- Nearly a year out from New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani are neck-and-neck at the front of the GOP pack in the Granite State, according to a new poll released Tuesday.

The CNN/WMUR presidential primary poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, found McCain the choice of 28 percent of voters who plan to vote in the state's Republican presidential primary next January, compared with 27 percent for Giuliani. The results were a statistical dead heat, given the poll's sampling error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.

However, the latest poll showed an increase in support for Giuliani since a similar survey in September, when McCain -- who won the New Hampshire presidential primary over President Bush in 2000 -- was the choice of 32 percent and Giuliani just 19 percent.

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