SPRINGFIELD, Mass., June 23 (UPI) -- A poll Sunday gave Democrat Edward Markey a comfortable lead in the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts.
The Republican/MassLive.com poll released just days before the election to fill John Kerry's seat, pegged Markey with 49 percent of the vote and Republican Gabriel Gomez with 41 percent.
The (Springfield, Mass) Republican said 9 percent of the electorate was undecided; however, the newspaper also said Massachusetts voters were not particularly engaged in Tuesday's vote.
"I think the campaigns have a much more difficult task in front of them than they would in a normal election cycle getting people out to vote," said Tim Vercellotti, director of the Polling Institute at Western New England University.
The Republican poll was actually one of the closest in recent days. The Boston Globe said a poll last week had Markey ahead by 20 points.
The Republican/MassLive.com poll was conducted June 16-20. The sample of 653 registered voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
