wbz.com – The race for Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat may be closer than some political pundits expected.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in Massachusetts finds there’s just a 9-percent difference between the two major party candidates.

Martha Coakley is favored by 50-percent while Republican Scott Brown is favored by 41-percent. Only 1-percent favor another candidate.

Joe Kennedy, no relation to Ted Kennedy’s family, is running as an independent.

Seven-percent say they are undecided and Rasmussen says more undecideds are likely to be democrats than republicans

President of the Rasmussen Report is Scott Rassmussen tells WBZ NewsRadio 1030 voter turnout will be especially critical and small turnout will benefit Brown.

Rasmussen says healthcare reform is the big issue of the campaign and this survey shows 53-percent favor the plan in Washington while 45-percent are opposed to it.

-Gipper’s Ghost

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