Elizabeth Warren Nearly Ties Scott Brown

Elizabeth Warren is within striking distance of Scott Brown, even though many voters have never heard of her, according to a new Boston Herald/UMass Lowell poll. While Brown came out ahead 41% to 38% in the poll, that’s essentially a tie given the poll’s 3.8% margin of error. And it looks all but certain Warren will emerge from the Democratic primary to face Brown—36% of primary voters said they’d pick her, while no other candidate gathered more than 5%.

About 37% of respondents had never heard of Warren, but her supporters were more likely to be following the race closely than Brown’s. ““They seem to be hungry for a chance to win Ted Kennedy’s old seat back,” one poll consultant said. But Brown’s approval rating remains strong at 53%, and even 38% of Democrats have a favorable opinion of him. He’s especially popular among independents, where he leads Warren 48% to 29%. His weakness? About half of voters say he hasn’t done enough for the middle class.