Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is curtailing his campaign schedule as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the Eastern seaboard, canceling planned appearances Monday night and all day Tuesday.

Campaign officials say vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan will also scrap campaign rallies during the same time frame.

The decision was announced a short while after President Barack Obama canceled a planned rally in Florida to fly back to Washington, where aides said he would oversee the government's response to the threat posed by the storm.

Romney intends to go ahead with speeches today in Ohio and Iowa before he begins observing his self-imposed storm-related moratorium on campaigning.

The former Massachusetts governor and Obama are locked in a close race, eight days before Election Day.