Collins Up by Three Points in First Major Poll Showing Her Beating Platner

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) had a slim three-point polling lead over Graham Platner for the first time in the race in a new late-June poll from Fox News released on Monday, just days after a New York Times poll showed Platner’s lead shrinking.

[RELATED: Platner’s Polling Lead Continues to Shrink in New York Times/PPH Poll…]

The Fox poll, conducted under the direction of the left-leaning Beacon Research and conservative-leaning Shaw and Company Research, surveyed 1,003 registered voters in Maine from June 23-27.

When asked which Senate candidate they would support, 50 percent said they would support Sen. Collins and 47 percent said they would back Platner while two percent remained undecided.

Strangely, despite Platner’s controversies, 81 percent of his supporters said they are certain to support him, while only 79 percent of those who said they’d vote for Collins were certain of their choice.

Fifty percent of Platner supporters said their vote was more for Platner than against Collins, while 53 percent of Collins supporters said their vote was more for her than against the challenger.

A majority of respondents, 54 percent, said that they believe Platner lacks the necessary judgment to serve in the Senate, while 53 percent said Collins has been in office for too long.

The largest contingent of voters, 30 percent, said that inflation and high prices will be the most important factors in their Senate vote, and second place went to political division, with 19 percent listing that as the most important issue.

Though the poll brought good news for Collins, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles fell behind his Democratic opponent, Hannah Pingree, by 11 percentage points.

The poll has a three percent margin of error.

The New York Times poll released just days before the Fox poll gave Platner a two-point lead over Collins, well below the significant lead he had in earlier polling.

Following the primary, polls have been close, promising a highly competitive race.