8/11/20
Democrats have healthy leads in Maine’s major races, with House Speaker Sara Gideon holding a 5-percentage point advantage over U.S. Sen. Susan Collins among likely voters and the party’s edge over Republicans extending down the ballot, according to a new poll. The Bangor Daily News-Digital Research poll surveyed 500 registered voters between July 28 and Aug. 9. The margins in the poll were roughly in line with several similar polls conducted in Maine over the past few weeks. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, led President Donald Trump by 8 points among registered voters statewide, though he had only a 1-point lead in the 2nd District over Trump, who won the district in 2016. In the highly watched U.S. Senate race, 43 percent of likely voters said they were backing Gideon compared to 38 percent for Collins. Gideon’s lead grew to 8 points among all registered voters and shrank to 3 points among only voters who said they were absolutely certain they would vote. Gideon also held an advantage over Collins when it came to second-choice votes among Savage supporters. The Senate race also showed splits along demographic lines, with Gideon performing especially well with women and college-educated voters while Collins led among voters with only a high school education and those living in the 2nd District.
Democratic advantages extended down the ballot, with 45 percent of respondents in the poll saying they planned to vote for Democratic candidates in local or state legislative races, while only 37 percent planned to vote for Republicans. The poll also found that Sen. Angus King, a former two-term governor re-elected easily in 2018, remained the most popular elected official in Maine, with 55 percent of voters approving of his performance while 23 percent disapproved. Gov. Janet Mills also remained popular, with 54 percent of respondents approving of her performance and 33 percent disapproving. Collins remains underwater, as she has been in polls over the past year, with 37 percent of voters approving of her performance while 49 percent disapproved. Maine’s senior senator has seen her popularity drop significantly since the start of Trump’s presidency, with 60 percent of voters saying their opinion of her had grown more negative over the past few years while only 15 percent said their view of her had grown more positive.
