Elizabeth Warren & Deval Patrick

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick during a news conference at the Statehouse in Boston on Nov. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A new MassINC Polling Group survey concludes that a majority of Massachusetts residents hold positive opinions about Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Deval Patrick.

Of the 501 Bay State residents polled between April 23-27, 61 percent said they see Patrick in a favorable light while 23 percent had a negative view of him. Those numbers remain relatively stable compared to Patrick's ratings as concluded by a MassINC. poll conducted in mid-December 2012. In that survey, Patrick landed a 60/26 percent positive-to-negative rating.

When broken down according to political party registration, 77 percent of Democrats, 56 percent of independents and 29 percent of Republicans said they have a favorable opinion of Patrick.

Fifty percent of those surveyed this round said they had a favorable view of Warren, who has less than six months under her belt as a United States senator. Twenty-nine percent said they have an unfavorable view of the Cambridge resident. In the aforementioned December survey, Warren's positive/negative ranking was 54/34 percent, reflecting a slight drop in popularity within the neighborhood of the current poll's 4 percent margin of error.

When Warren's public perception was broken down according to political party registration, 82 percent of Democrats, 40 percent of independents and 19 percent of Republicans said they have a favorable opinion of her.

The Massachusetts State Legislature didn't fare as well as Patrick or Warren, however. Only 34 percent of those surveyed said they have a positive opinion about the legislature while 30 percent said the opposite was true.

In relation to the special U.S. Senate election to replace now Secretary of State John Kerry, it seems that there is some truth to the perception that few people are aware of its existence.

While 46 percent of those surveyed said the election takes place in the next few months, 12 percent said it was later this year. Forty-one percent of those asked either said they had no idea when the election was to take place or said that it was coming up next year or the year after.

Low voter turnout is expected across the state today as voters nominate a candidate from each party to compete in the general election which is scheduled to take place on June 25.