JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Superstorm Sandy is shaking up the presidential campaigns just one week before the election.
President Obama canceled campaign stops in Ohio, Florida and Colorado to focus on storm relief from the White House. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney dropped campaign plans in Ohio, transforming his rally into a fundraiser for storm victims.
"On the face of it, it probably helps President Obama a little bit more," said UNF political science professor, Matthew Corrigan.
Corrigan says it's hard for Romney to attack the president in the wake of a disaster. All the while President Obama has received high marks for his administrations response from leaders across the aisle. The popular New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie praised President Obama.
"But obviously if the response is not good a week from now you got a lot of people concerned about how this is going it could hurt him," said Corrigan.
Sandy's impact on the election can't be forecasted, but state leaders are prepping. Virginia is already planning for extended hours in advance for absentee voting. In Maryland, early voting was called off Monday.
Corrigan doesn't anticipate any states delaying Election Day but says with millions facing power outages in the coming week, Sandy could cause fewer people to get out and vote.
"For example, in Atlantic City, are they going to have precincts in a week? Probably not. There's going to be some creativity in terms of election officials," said Corrigan.
