(Adds reaction from candidates) By Edith Honan NEW YORK, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Connecticut U.S. Senate raceis essentially tied one month before the November election asDemocratic U.S.

Representative Christopher Murphy tries to fendoff former wrestling magnate Linda McMahon, a QuinnipiacUniversity poll showed on Thursday. McMahon, a former chief executive of World

WrestlingEntertainment who lost a Senate race in the state two years ago,has battered Murphy with negative television ads since beforethe Aug. 14 primaries. The poll showed McMahon leading

thethree-term congressman 48 percent to 47 percent. The majority of likely voters say they have seen McMahon'sads and most consider them effective, the poll found. The poll could

setting up anunexpectedly competitive race in a state where President BarackObama holds a double-digit lead over Republican Mitt Romney. McMahon entered the race bruised from a defeat two

years agoto Richard Blumenthal - then the state's attorney general -despite spending $50 million of her own money. But an aggressivead campaign, which has sought both to reintroduce

McMahon tovoters and to weaken Murphy, has proven effective. "McMahon has done a good job defining Murphy, who was notwell known statewide, in a negative way," said Douglas

Schwartz,director of the Quinnipiac poll. "McMahon's blanketing theairwaves with TV ads appears to be working." The poll found 84 percent of voters have seen

McMahon'scampaign ads "often," compared to 64 percent who said the sameof Murphy's ads. Two-thirds of voters say the McMahon ads are"very effective" or

"somewhat effective," while about half saidthe same of Murphy's. McMahon has portrayed Murphy as a no-show congressman whohas repeatedly missed votes. Ads backing

Murphy's campaign havemade use of World Wrestling Entertainment videos that includeportrayals of women that voters might see as crass. In a statement responding to the poll,

McMahon's campaignsaid voters "are wary of promoting a lifetime politician whofailed to show up 75 percent of the time." McMahon has attackedMurphy for missing congressional

committee meetings. "Connecticut voters are clearly embracing Linda McMahon andher six-point jobs plan, the centerpiece of which is amiddle-class tax cut that will save the average

family $500 amonth next year," said Corry Bliss, McMahon's campaign manager. Eli Zupnick, a spokesman for the Murphy campaign, saidMcMahon is "spending tens of millions of

dollars on lies,smears, and political attack ads in an attempt to distractvoters from her strong support for right-wing Republicanpolicies like ending Social Security, privatizing Medicare,

andgiving millionaires like herself another massive tax cut." The statement described Murphy as a champion formiddle-class families. An analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project ranks the

race thesixth most expensive Senate campaign in the country by broadcasttelevision ad spending. During the last three weeks ofSeptember, $2.8 million was spent on McMahon ads, while lessthan

$1 million was spent on Murphy ads, it said. Overall, McMahon's supporters are more enthusiastic than heropponent's. Half of her backers describe themselves as

"veryenthusiastic," while 27 percent of Murphy's supporters said thesame of themselves. The survey of 1,696 likely voters was conducted overtelephone landlines and cell phones

from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 andhad a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points. (Editing by Doina Chiacu) (([email protected])(646 223 6323)) Keywords: USA

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