Tierney, Moulton Neck-and-Neck Headed into Tuesday's Election

Two polls in recent days show the race is neck-and-neck for Democrats in Tuesday’s primary election for the Sixth Congressional District.

On Sunday Remington Research Group said U.S. Rep. John Tierney (D-Salem) had a 1 point lead over challenger Seth Moulton.

Tierney had the backing of 43 percent of the likely Democratic voters, to Moulton’s 42 percent - with 9 percent undecided, Remington said.

The poll of 777 likely Democratic Party primary voters was done between Sept. 3-6 had a margin of error of 3.53 percent.

The Emerson College Polling Society released a poll on Friday showing a similarly close race, with 47 percent of likely Democratic primary voters in the Sixth District backing Tierney and 44 percent supporting Moulton.

The poll was conducted from Sept. 2-4, interviewing 343 likely voters. It had a margin of error of 5.3 percent.

Moulton, since the start of the summer, has closed in on the incumbent Tierney, according to Emerson. Tierney had a 53 point lead in April, 64 to 11 percent, and a 42 point lead in June, 59 to 17 percent.

In the past two weeks, both candidates have exchanged a high-profile war of words, mostly through TV ads and mailers.

Tierney faced his closest reelection challenge of his career in 2012, when he beat Republican Richard Tisei of Wakefield by a percentage point - about 4,000 votes. Tisei is again running and will meet the winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the November general election.

Tierney has represented the Sixth District, which includes much of the North Shore, including Beverly, Danvers, Lynn, Newburyport, Peabody, Gloucester, Salem, for the past 18 years.

Also on the Democrat’s ballot is Marisa DeFranco of Middleton, John Devine of Woburn and John Gutta of Groveland.

Emerson’s poll said DeFranco had 4 percent and Devine 1 percent, with 6 percent still undecided. The Remington poll did not mention the other candidates.

Both polls looked at the “favorability” of the two leading Democrats.

Tierney has a 54 percent favorable rating and a 43 percent unfavorable rating in the Emerson poll, compared to Moulton who holds a 57 percent favorable rating to 25 percent negative.

In the Remington poll, 38 percent of the likely Democratic primary voters view Tierney unfavorably compared with 45 percent who view him favorably. Moulton is viewed favorably by 48 percent, compared to 16 percent who view him unfavorably.

Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. across the Sixth District for Tuesday’s primary.