Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown in a Dead Heat in Polls

Polls out yesterday from Suffolk University/7News show that Republican Senator Scott Brown and Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren are locked in a virtual tie, with Brown pulling 48 percent of voters to Warren’s 47 (well within the 4 percent margin of error). This is a jump for Warren, who in February took 40 percent of the vote to Brown’s 49, and it’s good news for her campaign, which has been through a tough few weeks given the recent controversy regarding Warren’s Cherokee heritage. The polling, which took place from May 20-22, found that while 73 percent of voters had heard of the Cherokee kerfuffle, 69 percent of them felt it was a non-issue.

Warren and her team may have JPMorgan Chase in part to thank for her numbers, as she’s been able to deflect Pocahontas barbs and focus on CEO Jamie Dimon and the Fed instead, a reminder to voters that is where both her passion and strengths lie. But it’s not absolutely clear that her message is working, as only one-third of voters see Brown as a Wall Street ally, while 55 percent say’s not the case. Reports suggest that she’s about to refocus her campaign in an attempt to better zone in on banking regulations.

Warren has laid low in the past few weeks, limiting her press events and not elaborating on her heritage. The polls suggest that she and her team may have weathered the storm. It seems that despite the Republicans best efforts, it may not be a talking point that has much staying power. But it’s notable that some 41 percent of respondents believe that she may have received benefits from listing herself as a minority, while 45 think that she did not. Republican strategists hope it could be a potential wedge issue for blue-collar Reagan Democrats who chafe at affirmative action. Until now, it’s wait-and-see mode about exactly how the issue, or non-issue, will play out in the coming months.