(The Center Square) — Oyster farmer Graham Platner is maintaining a commanding lead over Maine Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate, according to a new poll released Thursday.
The Emerson College Polling survey released Thursday showed Platner leading Mills by about 27 points in the Senate Democratic contest, with the political newcomer garnering 55% support to Mill’s 28%. About 17% said “someone else” or were undecided, according to the poll.
Both Platner and Mills are vying for the Maine Democratic Party’s nomination to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November’s midterm elections.
“Graham Platner has a significant lead over Governor Mills, which is outside the poll’s margin of error,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement. “Male voters support Platner by a 41-point margin, 63% to 22%, while women support Platner by an 18-point margin, 50% to 32%.”
Meanwhile, Platner has a 7-point lead over Collins in a hypothetical general election matchup, according to the poll. That’s in contrast to a potential general election race between Collins and Mills, which shows the incumbent senator leading by three points. About 11% of those polled said they favored “someone else” in a general election race.
Platner jumped into the race in August with support from progressives, including Democratic Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who argues that the political newcomer is the party’s best shot at defeating Collins next year and regaining control of the U.S. Senate for Democrats.
Mills, 77, a two-term governor and former attorney general, jumped into the race in October. She is prevented from seeking another term.
Whoever emerges from the Democratic primary will face a formidable challenge to unseat Collins, who remains popular among a broad cross-section of Maine voters, including independents.
The moderate Republican was first elected to the Senate in 1996 and has been handily reelected every term since then despite opposition. In the 2020 election, Collins was reelected by nearly 9 points in the blue state, even as then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden carried the state by a similar margin.
The Emerson poll is the latest survey showing Platner with a double-digit lead over Mills, but it’s the first to indicate the democratic challenger is within striking distance of unseating Collins in November’s election.
The Maine race is being watched by national political observers as Democrats push to retake the U.S. Senate — where Republicans currently have a 53-47 majority — in the midterms. Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have listed the Senate race as a toss-up.
