A new internal poll conducted on behalf of the Pine Tree Results PAC, working to elect Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), found the incumbent tied with Graham Platner after recent polling has shown the Democratic challenger leading.
The poll, first publicly released by Politico, surveyed 800 likely Maine voters from June 1-3, after Platner’s sexting and cheating scandals came to the forefront of public discourse, but before the Thursday release of a New York Times report in which an ex-girlfriend alleged that he physically abused her.
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The poll found Platner and Collins tied at 46 percent support each, with eight percent undecided. The poll is not good news for Platner, who has consistently been ahead of Collins in most other polling.
Voter opinions of Platner appear to be cooling. When the same poll was conducted in January, 35 percent of voters held a favorable view of Platner compared with 29 percent who held unfavorable views and 20 percent who had never heard of him.
The new poll found 40 percent viewed him favorably, 49 percent viewed him unfavorably, and just four percent had never heard of him.
While this is the most positive polling for Collins in months, it is a reduction in her lead found in the January version of the poll, which put her one point ahead of Platner in a 45-44 percent matchup.
The poll was conducted by Tony Fabrizio, David Lee, and Travis Tunis. Fabrizio has long been a Republican strategist and pollster who has previously worked for President Donald Trump’s campaigns.
The poll is a bad sign for Platner, who has already seen a drop-off in polling numbers since his cheating scandal, with his own recent internal polling placing him just four points ahead of Collins, a drop-off from previous polls.
Collins is a lukewarm Conservative at best, but anybody north of Portland should be able to realize that Platner is a loose cannon.
Yup, hold your nose one more time and vote for Collins.