The national Democratic and Republican parties are focusing their energies on Massachusetts, where recent polling shows state attorney general Martha Coakley losing ground in the race for the Senate seat held by the late Edward M. Kennedy.

According to a new Rasmussen Poll reported by New England Cable News, Coakley holds an evaporating lead over Republican Scott Brown, a state senator who voted for an amendment to ban same-sex marriage in 2007 and once posed nude for Cosmo.


Coakley leads by 49% to 47% in the special election expected to generate low voter turnout on Tuesday. Independent candidate Joseph Kennedy, who is not related to the late senator, was favored by 3% of poll respondents, with 2% undecided.

Coakley previously held a strong lead in polls.