Mass. Senate race tight after Warren controversy

Scott Brown, left, and Elizabeth Warren, right.

(CBS News) Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren has closed the gap on Republican Sen. Scott Brown in their battle for Brown's Massachusetts Senate seat despite a controversy over her heritage, according to a new poll.

The Suffolk University/7NEWS poll showed the two candidates in a statistical tie among likely general-election voters in Massachusetts, with Brown taking 48 percent to Warren's 47 percent. (That's within the poll's four point margin of error.) In a February Suffolk/7NEWS poll, Brown led Warren by nine points.

The race has been dominated for the last month by a debate over whether Warren improperly identified as Native American in order to further her professional career. 

The poll found that only 27 percent of voters believe the story is significant, while 69 percent say it is not. Among voters aware of the controversy, 49 percent say they believe Warren is being truthful that she has Native American heritage. Twenty-seven percent say they do not believe her, while 23 percent say they are not sure.

The survey also found that Warren has gotten little traction with her claims that Brown is a favorite of Wall Street. Only 33 percent of voters in the traditionally blue state agreed that a vote for Scott Brown is a vote for Wall Street, while 55 percent disagreed.

The hard-fought battle between Brown and Warren is one of the most closely-watched Senate races in the country, in part because it offers Democrats a rare opportunity to pick up a Senate seat as they try to keep control of the chamber.

[TimeToEvolve]

I am ashamed of what I thought was a state (MA) that had people with some brains and some sense. To have a dead heat in MA between Brown from a completely failed Rand discredited epublicon party and Warren seems to mean this is another fixed election scam like most of them are now in America.

[wfw3536]

Warren owes the American Indians an apology the way she has used this for her own gain and to pad her resume. How sad that she would stoop this low.

[ammo17]

don`t they already have a democratic senator who LIED ABOUT HIS MILITARY SERVICE?MUST BE DEMOCRATIC THING.

[irreverentasever]

Looks like Scott Brown has a few stray hairs that his hairdresser should take care of pronto as well as whiten those teeth again and go out and get a new pair of sparkling white, fruit of the loom underwear.

[nojoy01]

If this assertion is in doubt then one of the doubters should pony up the money for a DNA test and then you'll know, for sure, what percentage of "Native American" she is. Of course, you'll have to come up with a sneaky, apparently legal, way to come by her DNA sample. But that shouldn't be too big a problem for the kind of political operators we have in this country these days.

[stormerF69]

Another lying Democrat running for office,hopefully the people of Mass will not be sucked into her web of deceit.

[omnibus66]

Looks like the Fake News junkies are out in full force this morning.

[stormerF69]

Just hoping the People of Mass,are not stuck with another lying Democrat Senator.

[Subjugating]

This thing is probably one of the most "unnewsworthy" things there could ever be written by people that wish to grapple at creating a "nonstory" seem real so as to bring attention to these two people that really have nothing going for them in politics and should leave so that others that do have something passionate to establish before the American people may do so.

Or - how a news writer tries to make it seem like something is worth writing about and still is paid while doing so whether you like it or not.

[vernique3]

Nice to see that a candidate for the middle class is competitive. Brown is a sheeple of the 1% and middle and working class voters who vote for him are voting to continue destroying the middle class.

[stormerF69]

Your koolaid is so spoiled,time to grow up with some facts. Obama's policies are not working ask Bill Clinton.

[h_moore]

The only "sheeple" are those who choose to vote for this liar and fraud. LieAwartha played the wrong card (you know that race card always seemed to work for her before). Makes anyone with any sense of integrity or morals wonder what she will lie about next to get what she wants. And when/where do the lies and deception end?????????

[nearl451]

Another phony issue raised to skew the real issues.

We really do like gossip and distraction much more than addressing any real problem in this Country.

[stormerF69]

Seems you are not on the Democratic page of distraction,since they have no record to stand on,what else should they do,maybe they could work on a budget they were suppose to pass 3 years ago?