In the California Senate race, Republican Carly Fiorina has pulled ahead of incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, according to the latest poll from Rasmussen Reports. Fiorina leads Boxer by a mere 1 percentage point in the survey of 750 likely California voters. The 48-47 lead is the first for the former Hewlett-Packard CEO in Rasmussen's polling of the race.

This poll comes on the heels of a SurveyUSA poll released last week that showed Fiorina ahead by 2 percent. However, Boxer still leads in the RCP Average by two points.

The candidates faced each other for the first time in a debate last week, sparring over a wide range of issues -- from the economy to the environment. While Fiorina attempted to paint Boxer as the embodiment of an out-of-touch Washington political class, Boxer hammered Fiorina for her tenure at HP, where she was forced out in 2005.

Boxer, who was first elected in 1992, faces her toughest opponent yet in Fiorina as well as the most challenging political environment for Democrats in decades. Forty-one percent of voters polled by Rasmussen have a very unfavorable view of Boxer, and only 20 percent view her very favorably. Still, California remains a solidly Democratic state and, according to the Rasmussen poll, 55 percent of voters approve of President Obama's job performance.

The poll was conducted Monday and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.