AUGUSTA, Maine — Both Gov. Janet Mills and upstart Democratic candidate Graham Platner were effectively tied with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in one of the first polls of the 2026 race that will be one of the biggest in the country.
The survey, released Wednesday by Portland-based Pan Atlantic Research, was the first one released publicly so far in the campaign to show Mills well ahead of Platner in the Democratic primary. It was also the first survey from a non-ideological group to test the two challengers against the five-term Republican incumbent.
The results were similar on that front. Mills and Collins were deadlocked at 43% with 14% of voters undecided. Platner had 43% to Collins’ 42% when they were polled head to head with 15% undecided, showing a toss-up race that could help decide control of the Senate.
Polling has shown a volatile primary between Mills and Platner. The governor was nearly 40 percentage points behind the progressive Marine veteran and oyster farmer in an October survey. That was conducted in the middle of a maelstrom over Platner’s offensive past Reddit posts and a tattoo of a Nazi symbol.
That made the poll released Wednesday a positive step for Mills. But all three of the major U.S. Senate candidates have major vulnerabilities. Collins’ favorability was 17 points underwater with Maine voters, which was almost as high as the 19-point figure for President Donald Trump. Mills, who has typically hovered above 50% approval as governor, was 8 points underwater.
Platner is struggling to win over older voters who make up a large part of the electorate in the nation’s oldest state. The 77-year-old Mills was backed by 66% of likely Democratic primary voters who were 65 and older, while the 41-year-old newcomer dominated among young voters.
The Pan Atlantic survey showed some worrying signs for Democrats in control of Augusta. Nearly half of Maine voters think the state is on the wrong track, which is the highest share in three years. More than two-thirds of voters placed the economy and inflation within the top-three issues facing the state.
The survey of 820 likely voters was conducted between Nov. 29 and Dec. 7 using an online panel and has an error margin of 3.7 percentage points.
