Politics
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AUGUSTA, Maine — A majority of Maine Democrats favor Troy Jackson as the party’s U.S. Senate nominee, and a poll released Wednesday shows him just ahead of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in a hypothetical November matchup.
The University of New Hampshire survey landed just before Maine Democrats’ Saturday nominating convention in Bangor, where delegates will formally pick a replacement for Graham Platner, who withdrew from the race this month following an ex-girlfriend’s rape allegation.
Jackson, the former Senate president from Allagash, all but locked up the nomination over the weekend after his campaign swept at least 456 of the 601 delegates and state committee members who will vote Saturday. It prompted top rivals, including Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former public health chief Nirav Shah, to drop out.
The UNH poll shows Democrats picked the most popular candidate, with 51% of those who voted in the June primary that they want Jackson picked as the nominee through the convention process. Shah was at 26% and Bellows was at 11%.
Jackson draws fairly even support among voters who didn’t back him originally: 51% of those who voted for Platner in the primary said they wanted Jackson as the replacement nominee, as did 49% of those who voted for Gov. Janet Mills. Majorities of self-identified socialists (72%) and progressives (60%) backed Jackson, along with a plurality of liberals (44%).
Platner’s decision to drop out of the race was generally welcomed by Democratic voters, including 78% of those who voted for Platner himself who called that the right decision.
In the general election test, 49% of likely voters say they’d back Jackson against Collins, who draws 46%, with 2% for another candidate and 3% undecided. Jackson wins 88% of Democrats and a plurality of independents, 46% to Collins’ 42%, while 99% of Republicans back Collins.
The two candidates’ images cut in opposite directions. Jackson’s net favorability is +5 at 37% favorable to 32% unfavorable, though 15% still don’t know enough about him to say. Collins is at -18, with 35% favorable and 53% unfavorable in a difficult environment for Republicans during the midterm year for President Donald Trump.
The top Senate appropriator performed best on delivering federal money to Maine, on which 53% rate her very good or good. Slim majorities rated her poor or very poor on her votes for major legislation (51%), Cabinet confirmations (51%) and Supreme Court confirmation (53%).
The poll also found Democratic nominee Hannah Pingree holding a double-digit lead in the race for governor, with 49% percent of likely voters saying they’d back her over Republican Robert Charles at 35% and independent Rick Bennett at 6%. Neither party candidate is especially popular: Pingree’s net favorability is -6 while Charles sits at -12.
The poll surveyed 1,236 Maine residents online and by text between July 15 and July 20, with an error margin of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. The Democratic portion, which sampled 528 Democratic primary voters, carries an error margin of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.