Politics
Our political journalists are based in the Maine State House and have deep source networks across the partisan spectrum in communities all over the state. Their coverage aims to cut through major debates and probe how officials make decisions. Read more Politics coverage here.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Insurgent candidate Graham Platner has a commanding lead over Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic primary for the right to take on U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in 2026, according to a poll released Thursday.
The finding came in the middle of a maelstrom for Platner’s campaign. Last week, media outlets uncovered offensive Reddit posts that were made over nearly a decade up until a few years ago. This week, he covered a chest tattoo of a skull-and-crossbones symbol linked to Nazis.
But Platner’s out-of-nowhere campaign gathered momentum after he entered the Senate race in August. He had a seven-week head start on Mills, who announced her run last week and now shockingly may be the underdog in the primary at age 77 despite her two terms as governor and a long history in party politics.
The University of New Hampshire poll, which was the first in the race so far, found Platner was supported by 58% of likely 2026 Democratic primary voters to just 24% for Mills. The political newcomer had a wide lead among members of the party between ages 18 and 49 but was effectively tied with Mills among seniors. No other Democratic candidate polled above 1%.
The survey was conducted between last Wednesday, one day after CNN published an initial story on Platner’s Reddit posts, and concluded Monday among a sample of 510 Democratic primary voters who took part online or via text message.
Platner’s lead was not the only surprising finding in the poll. U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District, was seen favorably by just 16% of voters in his district. That was 2 percentage points lower than State Auditor Matt Dunlap, his primary challenger. Another 41% of voters see Golden unfavorably and 57% say he doesn’t deserve reelection.
The survey found former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, leading Golden 49%-44% in a hypothetical 2026 matchup. The love-hate nature of LePage’s politics was on display with 41% of 2nd District residents seeing him favorably to 51% saying they do not like him.
Maine’s two referendums on the Nov. 4 ballot are deadlocked and facing deeply uncertain outcomes, the poll found. The voter ID and absentee voting overhaul contained in Question 1 has 49% opposition to 48% support with just 3% of voters undecided.
Question 2, a “red flag” law, is at 40% no to 38% yes with a whopping 22% of voters not sure. Nearly a third of those undecided voters are Democrats, with independents deadlocked on the question as well.