Markey Extends Poll Lead Over Kennedy In Campaign's Final Weekend

BOSTON — With both candidates making a final, weekend campaign blitz across the state heading into Tuesday's Democratic Senate primary, the latest poll shows Sen. Edward Markey has built up a double-digit lead over Rep. Joe Kennedy.

A poll released Friday by Emerson College shows Markey leading among likely voters with 56 percent to Kennedy's 44 percent. Markey's lead was bolstered by a 61 to 39 percent margin among self-identified Democrats and a 51 to 49 percent lead among independents.

The poll of 763 registered voters who said they were likely to vote in Tuesday's primary has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percent. The poll was conducted Aug. 25 to 27.

The Emerson College report mirrors polls released Wednesday by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell Center for Public Opinion and Data for Progress, which gave Markey a 12 and an eight percentage point lead, respectively.

"It appears that Markey was able to re-define himself over the summer as a Bernie Sanders style progressive which allowed him to win over previous supporters of Kennedy, whose more moderate positions might have caused early supporters to shift to Markey," said Spencer Kimball, director of Emerson College Polling.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).