Politics

Poll: Scott Brown in statistical dead heat with Elizabeth Warren

Amanda Carey Contributor
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When Scott Brown beat Martha Coakley for the late Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat in 2010, the tea party movement was at its apex. But in 2012, Brown might be in for another tough and unpredictable race.

A new University of Massachusetts poll released Monday has Republican Sen. Scott Brown in what amounts to a statistical dead heat with Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren.

Brown leads Warren only 41 to 38 percent, and the poll has a margin of error of 3.8 percent. (RELATED OPINION: Elizabeth Warren puts those villainous job creators in their place)

Thirty-seven percent of those polled, however, said they had never heard of Warren, a Harvard law professor who specializes in bankruptcy.

The poll also shows Brown has a 52 percent favorability rating among all voters. Among Republicans, that number goes up to 78 percent.

In the presidential race, however, President Barack Obama still has a comfortable lead in Massachusetts against his Republican opponents. When pitted against former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Obama leads 57 to 33 percent. The president also beats Rick Perry with 62 percent to the Texas Governor’s 25 percent.

Warren recently attracted grassroots support because she was the architect of Obama’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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