In California, new polling data suggests that Democrat Barbara Boxer is in for a tough fight to keep her United States Senate seat.  The AP reports that a Field Poll released Thursday shows Boxer in a statistical tie with two of her Republican challengers, and with a 51% unfavorable rating from voters:

Boxer has won by progressively larger margins in each of her previous re-election campaigns, but this year faces strong headwinds from the recession, which has left California with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

The poll shows 51 percent of likely voters have an unfavorable opinion of Boxer while just 38 percent have a favorable one.

Boxer’s standing with voters has crumbled in the past two months, even though it would appear the economy has begun to stabilize.