Boston Globe Poll: Brown 37, Warren 35

A new poll of the Massachusetts Senate race from the Boston Globe shows incumbent Republican Scott Brown in a dead heat against his likely Democratic challenger, Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren. From the Globe:

With a long seven months to go before Election Day, the survey shows Brown with 37 percent of the vote and Warren with 35 percent, while 26 percent said they are undecided. That amounts to a statistical tie, as the telephone poll of 544 randomly selected likely voters, taken March 21-27, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

Both candidates appear to be faring well among the voting blocs each needs most: Brown outpaces Warren by three to one among self-described independents, voters Republicans depend upon in this heavily Democratic state. Warren holds a better than three-to-one lead among those who identify themselves as conservative and moderate Democrats, a group of voters who helped form Brown’s coalition two years ago, when he first won office.

This polls shows a closer race than a February Suffolk University poll, which gave Brown a 9-point lead over Warren, and the large percentage of undecided voters suggests a contentious campaign for the seat once held by Ted Kennedy.

The Massachusetts GOP has already begun targeting Warren, releasing this ad last week criticizing her as "wrong on energy" for her opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.