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Graham Platner is maintaining his edge over Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in the latest poll on the state’s closely watched Senate race.
The new poll, released Thursday by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and YouGov, gave the Sullivan oyster farmer a 5-point lead over the incumbent ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary. In that survey, 6% of voters remained undecided, while another 2% supported another candidate.
That poll also revealed a surprising gender gap between the candidates, with a majority of women supporting Platner, while Collins, who is running unopposed for the Republican nomination, commanded a more narrow lead among men.
“The Maine U.S. Senate race is shaping up to be the most contentious in the country. There are worrying signs for both major, active candidates. For Collins, a bad economy and historically unpopular president are making the road to reelection extremely bumpy. Although Platner slightly leads in the poll, he’s less well known than Collins, which makes voters more persuadable as new information comes out about him,” John Cluverius, director of survey research for the Center for Public Opinion at UMass Lowell and an associate professor of political science, said in a statement.
The poll of 650 likely Maine voters, with a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points, was conducted May 13-26, concluding just days before Platner’s campaign was rocked by revelations that his wife, Amy Gertner, disclosed to an aide in August 2025 that Platner had exchanged sexually explicit texts with other women early in their marriage. Aides concluded that the texts were a private matter for Platner and Gertner to address in counseling.
Platner, who didn’t address the scandal during a weekend event in Auburn, where organizers asked a Bangor Daily News reporter to leave before the candidate spoke, has accused the national press of “journalistic malpractice” over the sexting stories.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Democratic senators privately pressed Platner during his visit to Washington on Tuesday about whether new allegations would emerge, to which Platner denied any credible ones were coming. After meeting with Platner, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stood by the candidate but avoided answering questions about the controversies.
On Wednesday, Platner’s campaign reported a surge in small donations in the wake of the sexting revelation, and in Sullivan the controversies haven’t changed his supporters’ minds. Yet, Democratic strategists and insiders worry that Platner could hamper their party’s performance come November.
Since Platner stormed onto the political scene last year, he has faced a barrage of criticism over unearthed inflammatory internet posts and revelations that he had a chest tattoo of a skull resembling a symbol adopted by the Nazi SS during World War II.
Platner denied knowing the meaning of the tattoo, which he got in 2007 while deployed abroad with the U.S. Marines. He has since had it covered.
Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her U.S. Senate campaign in April and hit Platner hard over his old internet posts in a series of campaign ads, has said that Republicans would make “mincemeat” of Platner if he emerges as the party’s standard-bearer for the November election.
During a Sunday interview with the Sun Journal’s Steve Collins, Mills reiterated that she remains on the Democratic primary ballot for June 9.
“People have the impression that I ‘withdrew’ or ‘dropped out,’” she said, “but I simply suspended active campaigning. I am still on the ballot.”
Old Town native David Costello also will be on the Democratic primary ballot seeking the nomination to face Collins.
In the Thursday poll, respondents showed themselves divided over their views of Platner, with near equal portions viewing him favorably versus unfavorably. About 14% had no opinion of him, and another 2% didn’t know him. The situation was more stark for Collins, with just 36% of respondents saying they view her favorably. Around 11% had no opinion of Collins.
It will be an uphill battle for Democrats to unseat Collins, who officially announced her historic bid for a sixth term in February. While recent polls have given Platner a lead over Maine’s senior senator, the Republican has handily beaten back challengers, including in 2020 when she defied polls and expectations to secure a fifth term in the Senate. But Collins, who has been ranked the country’s most bipartisan senator, has seen her popularity slump since Republican President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.
If Collins is successful in winning a sixth term, she would be Maine’s longest-serving U.S. senator.