Congresswoman Niki Tsongas and US Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren answer questions at endorsement event in Lowell today canal-side in downtown Lowell.

After teaching a class at Harvard this morning , Elizabeth Warren made her way to Lowell early this afternoon to accept an important endorsement of  her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in the 2012 election. Within the perfect urban setting of downtown Lowell – in the shadow of the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, along the Eastern Canal with Middlesex Community College, an historic gatehouse, restored buildings,  urban re-settler condos, public art and denizens of the downtown as a backdrop, Ms Warren accepted the  full support and endorsement of her candidacy from Congresswoman Niki Tsongas.

Congresswoman Tsongas was strong in her words of support and Elizabeth Warren was equally strong in her praise of Tsongas and grateful for her support. The event was well-covered by the Boston and area media – with cameras and reporters from Channel 4, Channel 5, Channel 7,  NECN, the Lowell SUN and WCAP/980-AM –  among others. The weight of the endorsement event could be measured with the presence of  two of the market’s top political reporters – Janet Wu of  WCVB-TV and Alison King of NECN.

This Tsongas endorsement comes on the heels of poll results showing in one – the PPP poll of last week – that Warren bests incumbent Republican Senator Brown by two points and in the just released UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion/Boston Herald that Warren far outdistances the other Democrats in the race and is in a statistical dead-heat in a head-on clash with the incumbent – Brown 41% and Elizabeth Warren 38%.

Tomorrow Elizabeth  Warren and the five other candidates in the Democratic  race – Bob Massie, Alan Khazei, Marisa DeFranco, Tom Conroy and Herb Robinson – will participate in the first public debate of the race –  sponsored by UMass Lowell and the Boston Herald. This primary debate will take place at UMass Lowell on Tuesday October4, 2011 at 7pm at Durgin Hall, 35 Wilder Street,  South Campus. Chancellor Marty Meehan will moderate the debate and questions will come from UMass Lowell student-panel.

Watch the various news broadcasts tonight for clips of the event.