The Democrat primary race in Massachusetts is heating up as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) catches up to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in her home state, a UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion poll released this week showed.

Warren and Sanders are neck and neck in her home state, which is part of the greater cluster of Super Tuesday states voting March 3. The survey, fielded February 12–19, 2020, among 450 likely Democrat primary voters in the state, showed Sanders edging out Warren by one point — 21 percent to the Massachusetts senator’s 20 percent. The results spell trouble for Warren, who, in October, maintained a double-digit advantage in the Bay State.

Pete Buttigieg (D) fell five points behind Warren with 15 percent support, and Joe Biden (D) trailed closely behind with 14 percent support.

Michael Bloomberg (D), who is heavily dependent on a strong performance on Super Tuesday, came in fifth place with 12 percent support. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), and Tom Steyer (D) all fell into the single digits with nine percent, three percent, and two percent respectively. Four percent of voters indicated that they remain undecided. The margin of error is +/- 6.1 percent, indicating a dead heat between Sanders and Warren:

“This is a big moment for Elizabeth Warren,” Center for Public Opinion Director Joshua Dyck said.

“While Bernie Sanders has emerged as the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic nomination, Warren registered her best debate performance to date in Nevada on Wednesday night and now looks to build on that momentum,” he explained.

“In order for her to emerge from the pack, she has to be able to not only pick up delegates, but beat Sanders in her home state on Super Tuesday,” Dyck added.

A Morning Consult poll released Wednesday showed Warren struggling to break into the top tier of favorite candidates in Super Tuesday states:

Warren has been attempting to gain back momentum but faced backlash after the Las Vegas debate for refusing to reject help from Super PACs, despite decrying big money in politics in the past:

“If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in. I’ll lead the charge. But that’s how it has to be. It can’t be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only one or two don’t,” she told reporters in Nevada on Thursday.