A majority of Mainers disapprove of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, according to a new survey that found the Republican’s net approval declined more than that of any other senator.
Morning Consult released Thursday its latest approval rankings for all U.S. senators based on surveys of voters in each state conducted between January and February. Morning Consult found 51 percent of Maine voters disapprove of Collins, up from 44 percent the prior quarter.
Collins came in second nationally for disapproval behind U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, who was at the bottom of Morning Consult’s list for the 17th straight quarter. The share of Maine voters who approve of Collins went down since last quarter from 47 percent to 42 percent, with the 12-percentage-point decline in her net approval the largest drop for any senator, according to Morning Consult.
The new rankings come as Collins, who first won election to the Senate in 1996, inches closer to a reelection bid next year and faces pressure as one of the senators in the middle of the chamber amid President Donald Trump continuing to target Maine by vowing to pull federal funding from the state if it continues to allow transgender girls to compete in sports.
Collins has lobbied Trump administration officials to reverse some actions against Maine, but she has avoided saying whether she blames Trump for Maine’s funding uncertainty. She won a fifth term in 2020 despite trailing Democrat Sara Gideon in every public poll before an election that smashed state records with $200 million in spending by candidates and outside groups.
“It is absurd to be talking about polling at this point in the cycle,” Collins campaign spokesperson Shawn Roderick said, putting Bangor Daily News among the media outlets that he said “embarrassed themselves” reporting on polls during the last campaign.
Morning Consult also released Thursday its updating ratings for governors in all 50 states. Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, came in second in disapproval. The survey found 44 percent of Mainers disapprove of Mills, while 51 percent approve.
In February, the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found 49 percent of Mainers do not approve of Mills, which marked the highest disapproval rating for her since she took office in 2018. That survey was conducted before Mills gained national attention when Trump singled her out during a White House and sparred with her over transgender student-athlete policies.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, ranked as the fourth-most popular senator in Thursday’s update, with 60 percent of Maine voters approving of King, 28 percent disapproving and 12 percent having no opinion.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, who caucuses with Democrats, topped the chamber with a 69 percent approval rating and remained the most popular senator in Morning Consult’s list for the third straight quarter, with U.S. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, and U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, rounding out the top three.
Collins is expected to receive plenty of financial support for next year’s reelection bid from national Republicans who view her seat in a Democratic-leaning state as key to defend. Several little-known candidates from across the political spectrum have announced plans to challenge her, but no well-known contenders have stepped forward yet to seek her seat.