Sara Smith and her husband Trevor decided having Halloween a week before a national election was too good an opportunity to pass up.

The Richland couple dressed up their sons as the presidential hopefuls -- 11/2-year-old Noah as GOP challenger Mitt Romney, and 21/2-year-old Nicholas as President Obama.

They sported a dusting of gray in their hair, as well as suits and ties.

"To be really honest, both my husband and I have had it up to here with the negativity," Sara Smith said. "We're just trying to bring a sense of humor to it."

She said she and her husband are left-leaning with conservative values.

When they took their children trick-or-treating, the costumes were well received by friends and family on both sides of the political spectrum.

"They'd say funny things, like, 'Oh, Romney, I guess you can come inside,' " she said, laughing.

It was too close to call when trying to determine which youngster came away with the biggest haul of candy.

"It was pretty even," she said.