Radically left-wing Senate hopeful Graham Platner is polling far below incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in a new poll obtained by Politico, showing the impact of his recent controversies on voter sentiment.
[RELATED: Platner Shows Substantial Lead Over Mills Despite Mounting Controversies…]
The poll, commissioned by the left-wing EMILY’s List political action committee and conducted by Impact Research, gave Collins a substantial lead over Platner, though a generic ballot placed Democrats ahead of Republicans.
“Maine voters find Graham Platner’s comments blaming victims for sexual assault, calling the Mainers he is seeking to represent ‘racist’ and ‘stupid,’ and promoting violent political action completely disqualifying,” said EMILY’s List Chief Campaigns Officer Tiernan Donohue in a statement obtained by Politico.
The poll surveyed 700 likely midterm voters and found that Democrats would win a generic ballot by a nine-point margin, with a 46-39 percent breakdown.
Sen. Collins, however, has worked to portray herself as a moderate, and the generic ballot did not reflect the results once she was pitted against Platner.
Instead, Impact Research first asked likely voters about their feelings on the race while providing balanced information on Platner, including some of his campaign language contrasted with likely Republican criticisms, such as accusations that he is a self-described communist and that he called all rural white people racist.
With that information, the likely voters picked Collins by a nine-point margin, 51 to 42 percent.
Pollsters then provided more information on Platner, including direct quotes from his controversial online posts, such as his apparent support for political violence, controversial statements on sexual assault victims, and the claim that “all cops are bastards,” along with information about his Nazi-affiliated tattoo.
That additional information shifted voter sentiment even further in favor of Collins, giving her a 19-point lead of 57 to 38 percent.
Finally, pollsters provided voters with a response to the controversies from Platner, in which he disavowed his past comments. That response failed to move the needle much in his favor, still giving Collins a 14-point lead at 55 to 41 percent.
The poll wasn’t all good news for Collins, however. It found that she has a negative approval rating, with 54 percent of Mainers disapproving of her performance and only 44 percent saying they are satisfied with her.
The poll conspicuously failed to gauge voter sentiment towards Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) and her Democratic campaign for Collins’ seat. The organization that commissioned the poll, EMILY’s List, endorsed Gov. Mills immediately after she officially announced her Senate bid.
The group was also first out of the gate to highlight CNN’s revelations about Platner’s deleted posts the day after Mills entered the race. Among the directors of EMILY’s List is billionaire Donald Sussman, ex-husband of First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine).
EMILY’s List’s executive director is former Maine House Minority Leader Emily Cain (D), who was her party’s nominee for Maine’s Second Congressional District in 2014 and 2016 and is stated supporter of Mills’ candidacy.
