The two also sparred over tax cuts for the wealthy and oil subsidies. Brown hits Warren on Cherokee claim

BOSTON — Republican Sen. Scott Brown wasted no time lacing into Elizabeth Warren over her controversial claim of Native American heritage Thursday night, attempting to reignite broader questions about her character during the first debate of their fiercely contested Senate campaign.

Brown took the first question of the hourlong face-off to yank the scab off a controversy that wounded Warren’s campaign in the spring, when it was revealed she identified herself as a minority while serving as a university professor.


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“Professor Warren claimed that she was a Native American, a person of color, and as you can see, she’s not,” said Brown, who repeatedly called on Warren to release her personnel records to put to rest whether the claim helped her gain employment at Harvard University or the University of Pennsylvania. “When you are a U.S. senator, you have to pass a test and that’s one of character and honesty and truthfulness. I believe and others believe she’s failed that test.”

Warren denied ever using her Cherokee status to get into college or law school and invoked her family in defense.

“The people who hired me have spoken and they’ve been clear about it,” Warren said at the debate, hosted by CBS affiliate WBZ. “I didn’t get an advantage because of my background. But this is about family. I can’t and won’t change who I am. I am who I am.”

Undeterred, Brown went back a third time at Warren. “You refuse to release your records and I think that speaks volumes,” he said.

Polling taken months ago amid the flare-up showed the issue mattered little to voters so Democrats viewed Brown’s attack as a sign he has fallen behind in the horse race.

The exchange at the outset set the tone for a testy debate — Brown consistently addressed Warren as “professor” and Warren attempted to dent the incumbent’s image as an independent who bucks the party line.

“He’s made it clear he stands for subsidies for the oil companies, he stands for breaks for the billionaires, he stands for the top folks getting special deals,” Warren charged.

Brown lashed back by dismissing Warren’s promise to be a tax cutter as “a myth” and calling her reflexively anti-business.

In addition to sparring over tax cuts and oil subsidies, the two traded barbs over their philosophies on Supreme Court nominees.

When Warren took a shot at Brown for voting against the nomination of Justice Elena Kagan, she framed the vote in grandiose terms.

“This really may be the race for the control of the Senate and the Supreme Court may hang in the balance,” she said, a theme she hammered home in the closing minutes of the debate.

Warren warned that if Republicans were to take over the Senate next year, Sen. Jim Inhofe of her home state of Oklahoma would most likely take over as chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee.

“He’s a man who has called global warming a hoax. In fact, that’s the title of his book,” Warren said. “A man like that should not be in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Brown shot back: “You’re not running against Jim Inhofe. You’re running against me, professor.”

Polls have shown that Bay State voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Senate. And strategists on both sides saw Warren’s approach as a preview of an argument that she would emphasize more in the coming weeks.

“It’s not just about Sen. Brown’s vote. This is about the vote of all the Republicans,” Warren said.

Warren appeared to soften her tone in this high-stakes setting. She smiled often, did not appear to allow Brown’s scathing barbs to get under her skin and offered no forceful “You Didn’t Build That” moment that inspired her unwavering liberal fan base but repelled some moderate voters.

On the other hand, Brown appeared to become agitated at certain moments as Warren relentlessly pegged him as a legislator who wasn’t looking out for the middle class. The punches he threw were undoubtedly harder and more personal.

“Can you imagine 100 professor Warrens down there? Placing blame and raising taxes. Remember, the founder of the radical Occupy protest movement,” he said during a lengthy description of his rival.

After trailing Brown in summer polling, Warren is riding a wave of fresh momentum out of the Democratic National Convention.

Of the five public polls taken since the convention, Warren led in four of them by a range of 2 to 6 percentage points. Only a UMass/Boston Herald survey published Thursday gave Brown the upper hand by 4 points.

Earlier in the day in Washington, Brown raised the prospect that he might miss the first of their debates because of votes, but he later caught an afternoon flight back home.

The two candidates will face off next on Oct. 1 at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.