WASHINGTON — Almost half of likely voters in Maine’s closely watched Senate race view Democrat hopeful Graham Platner as “too extreme,” a new poll has found.
The New York Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena College survey also found that only 44% would describe Platner as having “good character” compared to incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (66%), and just 45% agree the Democrat “has the right kind of moral values” compared to Collins (61%).
The poll still showed Platner leading Collins 49% to 47%, with 3% saying they didn’t know who they would support or declining to answer.
Platner, 41, is endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and backs policies such as a single-payer healthcare system, packing the Supreme Court, and a wealth tax.
However, his campaign has been dogged by a series of scandals, including physical abuse of a former girlfriend, sexting other women while married, making offensive comments on Reddit and getting a tattoo of a notorious Nazi SS symbol.
Platner has denied both being violent towards past girlfriends and knowing that he had a Nazi tattoo, though multiple former flames have released messages in which they describe the tattoo to confidants before its significance was publicly known.
The survey result brings Platner’s lead over Collins in the RealClearPolitics polling averaege down to four percentage points, half the margin he enjoyed in April.
In 2020, Collins trailed her Democratic opponent, Sarah Gideon, by more than five percentage points in the RCP average and won re-election by 8.6 percentage points.
The poll also found that 60% of Maine voters disapprove of President Trump, about the same percentage as in September 2020.
Collins also edged Platner in overall favorability, with 48% holding a “very” or “somewhat” favorable view of the Republican compared to 45% who hold positive views of Platner.
A whopping 61% of respondents said that Collins would do a better job of bringing federal dollars to Maine, while just 34% said the same of Platner.
The Collins campaign has played up her longtime role as the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, a panel on which Platner has said he eventually wants to sit.
The poll was conducted June 19-26 and sampled 608 likely voters with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.8 percentage points.
Democrats see Maine as their best Senate pickup opportunity in the 2026 election cycle, with Collins the lone Republican representing New England on Capitol Hill.
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