Poll: Warren Leads Brown By 6 Percentage Points in Massachusetts

Democrat Elizabeth Warren leads incumbent Republican Scott Brown 50 to 44 percent in their Massachusetts Senate race, according to a new poll from Boston radio station WBUR.

That tally includes voters “leaning” toward one candidate or the other. Without the leaners, Warren’s lead shrinks to 48 to 43 percent. The poll was conducted Oct. 21-22 by MassINC Polling Group and has a 4.4 percentage point margin of error.

A WBUR poll earlier this month showed Brown with a 4 point lead, excluding leaners. “When you go from a 4-point lead for one candidate to a 5-point lead for another candidate, it is a meaningful change, definitely,” says MassINC pollster Steve Koczela.

Last time around, Brown benefited from President Barack Obama’s desultory performance in his Oct. 3 debate against Mitt Romney, Koczela said. “The last poll that we did happened to coincide with what would have to be described as the worst week of the entire campaign for Democrats.”

The previous poll also preceded the latest debate between the two Massachusetts candidates, in which Warren attacked Brown for voting against a Democratic bill putting the onus on employers to prove that women should be paid less than men.

Brown joined other moderate Republicans in opposing the bill because he worried it would cause job losses.