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The Massachusetts Senate race is a dead heat in a new Boston Globe poll, with both candidates getting 47 percent support -- a shift from many recent polls which have showed Democratic nominee Elizabeth Warren with an edge over GOP Sen. Scott Brown.

The previous Globe poll, conducted in late September, had Warren leading Brown 43 percent to 38 percent.

President Obama still holds a significant lead over Mitt Romney, the state's former governor (52 percent to 38 percent) but that lead is smaller than it was in the previous Globe poll. The decreased margin in the presidential race could benefit Brown, who needs to outrun Romney but a substantial margin to win.

Fifty-four percent of respondents hold a favorable view of Brown, while 37 percent see him unfavorably -- not a big change from the previous poll, in which 53 percent saw him favorably to 33 percent unfavorably. Warren's numbers have worsened since the last poll, however: 49 percent of respondents view her favorably, while 42 percent view her unfavorably. In the September poll, 53 percent saw her favorably and 36 percent viewed her unfavorably.

Both candidates have been attacking each other over the airwaves, but while Warren's attacks on Brown center largely on policy issues and control of the Senate, his attacks on her are more personal and hit on her work and character.