A new poll from Quantus Insights gave a small glimmer of hope to Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Monday in their electoral battles against Graham Platner after it gave him a smaller lead than the University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) Pine Tree State Poll.
Quantus Insights questioned a pool of 800 likely voters from March 3-5 on the highly contested midterm senate race for the seat currently held by Sen. Collins, a race that could have significant national implications given Republicans’ current extremely thin senate majority.
Pollsters asked respondents to choose between the radical young political newcomer Platner and the aging Gov. Mills.
Platner drew support from 43.3 percent of respondents, compared with Mills’ 38 percent support, with 18.7 percent remaining undecided.
While Platner maintained a substantial five-point lead, it was far smaller than the drastic 38-point lead he held over Mills in the UNH poll.
Notably, the Quantus Insight poll asked all 800 respondents to choose between Mills and Platner; UNH only consulted likely Democratic primary voters on the question.
That difference may explain the significant discrepancy in the results in the two polls.
Quantus asked voters to choose who they plan to vote for in a potential Collins/Mills race and a Collins/Platner race.
Voters slightly preferred Collins (44.6 percent) to Mills (43.0 percent), with Collins maintaining a slim lead similar to one found in the UNH poll. According to Quantus, 5.6 percent of respondents would choose a third party, 1.1 percent would not vote, and 5.6 percent remain undecided in a contest between the two septuagenarians.
Platner maintained a strong lead in a potential matchup with Collins, drawing 48.6 percent compared with the incumbent’s 41.8 percent support. In that race, 5.9 percent remained undecided, 2.9 percent would vote for a third party, and 0.9 percent would not vote.
That marks a change from UNH’s findings that 49 percent of voters would support Platner, compared with 38 percent support for Collins.
