Poll: Warren maintains lead over Brown

Elizabeth Warren is holding a slight edge over Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) in their hotly contested Senate race, according to a new poll.

One month before election day, the former Obama adviser and Harvard law professor is leading the freshman lawmaker 50 to 45 among likely voters, according to a poll released Sunday by the Western New England University Polling Institute.

The findings show Warren ahead by roughly the same margin as in the same poll taken in early September, but this latest survey shows voters largely making up their mind with just a short while before the campaign season ends — only three percent of those polled said they were still undecided.

{mosads}The support for the two candidates shows a healthy break along gender lines, as Warren is pulling nearly two-thirds support from women, while Brown enjoys an 18-point edge among men. 

Warren’s lead also comes despite the fact that Brown enjoys a healthy lead among independents, pulling 62 percent support compared to Warren’s 35. And Brown enjoys stronger partisan backing, pulling 98 percent of Republican voters compared to Warren’s 85 from Democrats.

Just four percent of Republicans voters have a favorable impression of Warren, while 19 percent of Democrats have a positive view of Brown. Overall, Brown enjoys a two-point favorability edge over Warren among likely voters.

Voters also seem to be hold Brown’s first term as a U.S. senator as a positive. The poll found that Brown’s job approval rating stood at 55-33, with nearly three-quarters of independents thinking highly of his conduct as a senator.

But despite those edges, it appears Brown is continuing to struggle to chip away at Warren’s slight advantage in the hotly-contested, closely-watched race. Eighty-four percent of those polled said they had “a lot” of interest in the upcoming election.

The poll, which surveyed 440 likely voters was conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, has a 5-point margin of error.