Poll: Platner Best Positioned Maine Dem to Defeat Susan Collins
After respondents were shown short biographies for both candidates, Graham Platner leads Sen. Susan Collins by 14 points, while Gov. Janet Mills leads Collins by 8 points.
By Jordan Zakarin, More Perfect Union
Democratic oyster farmer Graham Platner is the candidate best positioned to defeat Maine’s incumbent senator, Republican Susan Collins, in next year’s midterm election, according to a new poll of 500 likely voters conducted by Zenith Research for More Perfect Union.
In the initial ballot, Platner and Collins, who is running for her sixth term, start out tied. Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat who is rumored to launch a Senate run next week, holds a 5-point lead over Collins in the initial poll. After respondents were shown short biographies for both candidates, however, Platner leads Collins by 14 points, while Mills leads Collins by 8 points.
Platner outperforms Mills most with young voters, independents, rural voters, men, and gun owners.
Collins is deeply unpopular with Maine voters, who give her a 39% job approval rating (including 28% that strongly disapprove). She has a 53% approval rating among Republicans, with just 18% saying they “strongly approve” of her job performance.
The 77-year-old Mills is also a very familiar figure to voters in Maine and has been in elected office since 1980. She was first elected to the state House in 2022 and later served for eight years as state’s attorney general. Mills is now in her second term as governor and provokes a polarized response from voters. Among all voters, 48% approve of her work as governor, while 45% disapprove. Among independents, 51% disapprove and just 40% approve.
Platner is a military veteran and oyster farmer making his first run for public office. He has enjoyed a strong start to his campaign but trails in name recognition. Less than half of voters polled have heard of the 40-year-old newcomer.
The 45% of voters who have heard of Platner, however, feel overwhelmingly positive about him, due in large part to a viral launch video and a barnstorming tour of Maine that has included appearances with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Platner’s approval rating is +12 among voters who have heard enough about him to form an opinion. 15% of voters are neutral.
While Mills has governed as a political moderate during her decades in office, Platner is running as a populist outsider, channeling public anger at vast economic inequality, corporate abuses, and political corruption.
Platner is a proponent of a Medicare for All health care system, a position that 72% of voters in Maine support. He has voiced support for a billionaires tax, which is supported by 79% of Mainers (52% strongly support); and he has refused to accept donations from corporate PACs, which was similarly popular with the poll’s respondents. 54% say such a stance would make them more likely to support a candidate.
Full results from the poll will be released on Monday.