Graham Platner’s consistent polling lead over incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) continued to shrink in a New York Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll released on Sunday.
The poll surveyed 608 likely Maine voters on numerous issues, including a variety of questions on both Sen. Collins and Platner, and found that 49 percent of voters would support Platner compared with 47 percent who would vote in favor of the incumbent.
Though Platner maintained a slim two-point lead—well within the poll’s significant 4.8 percent margin of error—his lead has dropped significantly since his late-May polling numbers, when a University of New Hampshire poll gave him a nine-percent lead.
[RELATED: Platner vs. Collins Dogfight: New Poll Shows Tight Race Ahead of June 9 Primary…]
The NYT poll found that 54 percent of voters would prefer to see Democrats take control of the Senate, with Collins drawing support from 10 percent of voters who would prefer Democratic control.
Voters were split evenly, 47-47 percent, on whether Platner was too extreme, while only 44 percent believed that he had good character.
Collins scored better, with only 30 percent believing her to be too extreme and 66 percent saying she has good character.
Despite 61 percent saying Collins would be better at bringing money and resources to Maine, 50 percent said that Platner would be better for everyday Mainers.
Seventy-three percent of voters had heard a lot about Platner’s ever-increasing number of controversies, including his Nazi tattoo, a cheating scandal, droves of reprehensible social media posts, and use of Kik, an app deemed a “predator’s paradise” by child advocacy groups.
Among those who had heard about the controversies, 28 percent said they meant they could not support him, 24 percent said they made them question their support for the candidate, and 39 percent said they had not impacted their decision at all.
Among respondents who said they support Platner, about 30 percent said the controversies have raised questions about their support.
Aside from the Platner/Collins questions, pollsters found that 61 percent believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, and 38 percent approved of President Donald Trump’s job performance.
Platner has seen his polling numbers drop recently. An early-June internal poll from Platner’s campaign gave him a four percent lead over Collins.
A pro-Collins PAC’s poll published around the same time found the two tied.
A June 12 Quantus poll gave Platner just one point over Collins.
Currently, Real Clear Polling, which aggregates a variety of polls, gives Platner 48.4 percent compared with Collins’ 44.4 percent.
