More than 40 percent of Mainers feel that the state is currently on the wrong track — nearly 10 percent more than in April of 2022 — according to a recent Pine Tree State Poll, a States of Opinion Project conducted by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Survey Center.
A similar share of residents have also expressed disapproval of Gov. Janet Mills’ (D) job performance.
Overall, 43 percent of respondents said that they, to some degree, disapprove of Gov. Mills’ job in office, while 53 percent indicated approval.
When broken down by party, a stark divide between Republicans and Democrats emerges, with 88 percent of those on the right expressing disapproval compared to just 12 percent of those on the left.
Nearly half of Independents, however, also disapproved of Mills’ performance.
Maine men are far more likely to disapprove of Mills’ job performance than women, with 59 percent of expressing disapproval compared to just 30 percent of women.
Respondents were then asked to identify the most important factor in making them either approve or disapprove of Mills’ job performance.
For those who expressed disapproval of Mills, her “handling of immigration” (17 percent), “handling of budget/finances” (14 percent), and “handling of COVID-19” (13 percent) were reported as top concerns.
Fifteen percent of disapproving respondents cited other unnamed reasons for their lack of satisfaction with Mills’ time in office.
Among those who approve of Mills’ job performance, her “handling of COVID-19” was the most widely-noted reason at 23 percent, followed by her “handling of abortion” at 19 percent. Mills’ “handling of healthcare” came in a distant third at 8 percent.
Mainers are largely divided over whether the state is currently moving in the right or wrong direction, although far fewer are unsure of their answer to this question compared to April of 2022.
The UNH Survey Center’s most recent poll found that 47 percent of Mainers believe the state is on the right track, while 42 percent feel that it is on the wrong track. Just 11 percent weren’t sure of their answer.
In April of 2022, however, 28 percent indicated a lack of clarity as to whether or not the state was moving in the right direction.
Republicans are far more likely to think that Maine is on the wrong track in 2024, coming in at 83 percent, compared to just 9 percent of Democrats.
Independents are largely divided with roughly 41 percent indicating that the state is on the wrong track and around 42 percent saying that it is on the right track.
Coming in at 30 percent, a significant plurality of respondents said that housing is the most important issue facing Maine today.
This followed at a distant second by the cost of living at 11 percent and jobs/economy at 9 percent.
11 percent of respondents cited other unspecified problems as the most important ones facing Maine right now.
Of these three concerns, housing was most frequently noted by Democrats and Independents, while the cost of living was most commonly highlighted by Republicans.
Jobs and the economy were cited most frequently by Republicans, albeit with slightly less frequency than the cost of living.
Only 3 percent of Democrats mentioned the cost of living, and just 6 percent noted jobs and the economy.
Independents also cited jobs and the economy with low frequency but more closely mirrored the Republicans in terms of concern over the cost of living.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="30289 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=30289">14 Comments
Hmmmm, I was one of the people polled and was emphatically in the camp that Mills is doing a lousy job on ALL counts. These results reminded me of the Seinfeld episode standoff between normal people (Republicans) and their Bizarro counterparts (Democrats).
I think the people sampled in this survey live in Portland or the Bangor area, which we know are 80% Dem. I say BAN DROP BOXES AND SEE HOW THE PEOPLE REALLY FEEL.
The street say’s differant, The public and business still haven’t revovered. Gonna take a decade to recover from the covide shutdown with some businesses never
I wonder how many out of state transplants were polled?
This state has fast gone downhill.
Even the streets have become filthy.
Go an hour away to NH and it’s so much cleaner and so much more prosperous.
Portsmouth is now as crowded as Portland used to be during tourist season.
Liberals turn everything they touch into trash.
Just got my property tax bill here in Yarmouth. It was up and additional $3,000 or 25%! WtF??? Three should be well over 50% that think Maine is on the wrong track. Most Mainers are either blatantly delusional party adherents or asleep.
If only 40% of Mainers think this current administration is a HUGE problem, then we know now why the state is in such a mess and that it can never be “fixed”.
Congratulations, the numbers are in… 60% of the state are now either not from here, on handouts or a graduate of the Maine schooling indoctrination system. Bravo you’re like the mini-me of California.
Are the 60% on drugs, welfare or both?
you get what you vote for !!!! Republicans are not voting in the same numbers as the communists, t this is what you get when you don’t vote Republicans. Utilize absentee voting its easy. Why do you think the communists win every time? They utilize every tool.
What an ugly flag
If you like Tyrants “Crack Head” Mills is for you . Her handling of The Scam Demic was a JOKE. Her and Hajji Shah killed more people with the Clot Shot than the “Virus” did . Maine is lost until it can be Purged of ” Commie-Tards “
Duh
Ya think ?
Wanna invite A ZILLION non English speaking criminals into town ?
Get a clue folks . Seventy Five thousand is just a taste of what it will become .
You Wanna Change the names of your holidays ?
You Wanna Change your flag into something “ other than what it is and has been “ ? So that then you’ll have to buy a new license plate if you don’t want their stupid looking tree ?
You Wanna REMAKE “ Our “ state into some dystopian ,virtue signalers , feel good ,do good ,be kind , be welcoming , suburb of Massachusetts ?
Maine IS ON THE WRONG TRACK .
ITS BECAUSE OF THESE DEMOCRATS !
The more Liberal a country becomes, the more violent and corrupt it becomes.
I hate surveys and charts. So many statistical representations are just ill-informed. Along with the data, the timing of the survey is critical in the analysis of data. And so many other factors. Maybe someday we will have AI drones that will capture subtle conversations at coffee shops, on phones and everywhere else. A phone survey can’t factor in how the callee interprets the questions on the survey. And those second thoughts we have after thinking about what was posed in the survey.
Right now the Dems are on a high. They chose a new candidate without any due process for those million-plus who had already voted. That is exactly how they like to do things. Act first, ignore later, to hell with the consequences.
As is true of life, it always throws us a curve. Something tells me that this most recent curve is really a sinker-ball.