Graham Platner would win against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins if Mainers cast their votes today.
That’s according to the University of New Hampshire’s new Pine Tree State Poll, released Tuesday morning.
In the poll, Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer from Sullivan who has support from unions and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, would get 49% of the vote, compared with 38% for Collins, in part from his commanding leads among Democrats and unenrolled voters.
On the other hand, if Gov. Janet Mills won the Democratic nomination to take on Collins, the term-limited governor would get just 41% of the vote to the Republican’s 40%. The poll found that Mills would suffer from a large lack of support from socialist-leaning voters.
Platner maintains an edge over Mills in the Democratic primary race, with leads among the aforementioned socialist-leaning and progressive voters. Liberals are evenly split between Mills and Platner.
Among likely Democratic primary voters, Platner commands a 64% lead over Mills’ 26%. Bangor’s Andrea LaFlamme, who didn’t place among the respondents to the October Pine Tree State Poll, had 2% support and Brunswick’s David Costello got 1%. Just 6% of voters were undecided about who they would support in the Democratic primary.
That’s a marked gain for Platner from the last Pine Tree State Poll, released in October, when he had 58% support, compared with Mills’ 24%.
His gain in the poll comes despite a barrage of bad press last fall.
Platner’s campaign was beset with controversy over unearthed inflammatory internet posts and a chest tattoo depicting a skull superimposed over crossbones, resembling the Totenkopf symbol adopted by the Nazi SS during World War II.
Platner denied knowing that his tattoo was a Nazi symbol. He got the tattoo in 2007 while deployed abroad with the U.S. Marines. While on leave, Platner and other Marines went to Croatia, where they got “very inebriated” and decided to get tattoos. He said that they all picked “terrifying” designs off the wall.
He has since gotten it covered.
At the same time, his campaign saw a number of high-level departures, including his national financial director, treasurer, campaign manager and political director.
Despite the barrage of negative headlines, Platner vowed to stay in the race.
Democrats face an uphill battle to unseat Collins, who earlier this month officially announced her historic bid for a sixth term. She has handily beaten back challengers, including in 2020 when she defied polls and expectations to secure a fifth term in the Senate. But Collins, once ranked the country’s most bipartisan senator, has seen her popularity slump since Republican President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.
Republicans are largely aligned with Collins, who commands 67% support among likely voters in the Republican primary, according to the Pine Tree State Poll.
The Senate race is shaping up to be an expensive one, with the Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, pledging last month to spend at least $42 million to help Collins defend her seat. If Collins is successful in winning a sixth term, she would be Maine’s longest-serving U.S. senator.
