Graham Platner and Susan Collins are neck and neck, Times/Press Herald/Siena poll shows

The pivotal race for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat is about even, a New York Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll found. Political newcomer Graham Platner, a Democrat, holds a narrow, two-point lead over Republican Sen. Susan Collins, 49% to 47%. That’s within the poll’s margin of error, +/- 4.8 percentage points. The poll of 608 likely voters surveyed from June 19-26 shows a tight race about four months before the general election. The top three issues for voters are the economy, which party controls Congress and the character and competence of their candidates, the survey found. Maine has one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate races in the country. Democrats need to flip four seats to take control of the upper chamber, and Maine is widely viewed as the Democrats’ best pickup opportunity there, since Collins is the only Republican running this year in a state won by Democrats in the 2024 presidential election. Much has been made about Collins’ unpopularity, but the Times/Press Herald/Siena poll found she and Platner were each viewed unfavorably by 50% of respondents. Collins had a slightly higher favorability rating, 48% to Platner’s 45%. Although the general election campaign is just getting underway, many respondents say they have made up their minds. Eighty percent of those surveyed said they definitely planned to vote for their preferred candidate, while 18% said they would probably vote for their choice. David Glaser, an 82-year-old Democrat and survey responder who lives in Scarborough, said he’s supporting Platner even though the political newcomer has never held political office. He’s drawn to Platner’s focus on the wealth disparity in the country, and to the candidate’s promise to break up monopolies. “The division of wealth is putting this country into two groups: one very tiny group of wealth, and the rest,” Glaser said, lamenting the shrinking middle class. But not all Democrats are sold on Platner. Cindy Foss, a 66-year-old retired nurse who lives in Athens, said she plans to support Collins, because “she’s been there long enough to know what’s good for both our state and country.” Foss, a Democrat who responded to the survey, said she’s been put off by Platner since his launch — well before any of his personal controversies came to light. “He’s a blowhard — he thinks he’s all that,” Foss said. “This is a saying we have: if you could buy him for what he knows, and sell him for what he thinks he knows, you’d be rich.” The poll found that Platner is leading among an important voting bloc. Independent voters, who comprise nearly a third of Maine’s electorate, prefer Platner, 51% to 45%. Platner, a 41-year-old combat veteran and oyster farmer, has been campaigning as a progressive, economic populist, promising to improve the lives of working people. And his supporters hope that he will be able to appeal to young men without college degrees who previously voted for Donald Trump. But the poll shows that Platner’s largest base of support continues to come from college-educated voters from wealthier parts of the state, especially in the Greater Portland and Midcoast areas. Platner had a 66% to 32% advantage among respondents with a bachelor’s degree or higher, while Collins was up 58% to 37% among those without a degree, the survey found. Only 4% of respondents who voted for Trump in 2024 back Platner, while 10% of those who voted for Democrat Kamala Harris for president supported Collins, the poll found. The survey found that women are more likely to support Platner, 52% to 44%. And 60% of women want Democrats to control the Senate, compared to 36% of women who say the same about the Republican Party. Men were split on this question, with 48% wanting Democrats to control the upper chamber, and 48% saying they preferred Republican control. The survey found that both Collins’ and Platner’s support is firm. Just 9% of those who don’t plan to support Collins said there was some chance they would eventually vote for her. When Collins supporters were asked if they might eventually support Platner, just 5% said there was some chance that they’d do so. The poll found that more than nine out of 10 likely voters have heard about Platner’s controversies, with 76% of respondents saying they’ve heard a lot about his online comments, his extramarital texting or the infamous tattoo he got in his 20s. Alice Cahn, a 72-year-old Rockport resident and poll respondent who moved to Maine five years ago, said her top priority is giving Democrats control of Congress, though she worries somewhat about losing Collins’ influence as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. That position has allowed Collins to win billions of dollars in federal money for local projects. “I admire some of the things that (Collins) has done for Maine, but at this point, this seems to be somebody who refuses to speak truths to power,” Cahn said. “We need change and I do not see Susan Collins being able to provide that change or being able to champion that change.” She added,”This is somebody who is entrenched in the way things were. And given the way the world is today and given what’s going on in our country, we can’t afford that for the future of our kids.” Cahn said she is impressed with Platner’s energy and his willingness to fight the political establishment. But other voters are looking to tone down the partisanship in Washington, D.C. Fran Dalecki, a 61-year-old Republican from South Berwick, said she supports Trump’s policies, but she disagrees with his polarizing rhetoric. She appreciates Collins’ willingness to stand up for Maine’s best interests. “I like that she’s bipartisan, like a true bipartisan,” said Dalecki, a retired nurse who now owns a mechanical services company with her husband. Dalecki, a self-described moderate who responded to the survey, applauded Collins’ advocacy on behalf of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. She said she knows many families whose livelihoods are tied to the yard. “She fought for that and she saved it, and it saved a lot of my friends’ homes,” she said. “That saved the economy.” The New York Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll of Maine voters was funded with support from the Maine Trust for Local News.