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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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Democratic Party candidates have a strong chance of beating Maine's Republican Senator Susan Collins in the upcoming midterm election, according to a new poll.
According to polling by Zenith Research for More Perfect Union, Democratic candidates Graham Platner and Governor Janet Mills are both ahead of Collins as she vies for her sixth term in office.
Newsweek reached out to Collins, Platner and Mills to comment on this story outside of normal business hours.
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Why It Matters
Maine's Senate race is likely to be among the most competitive races next year as Democrats hope to unseat Collins.
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While Collins, a moderate who spoke out against Donald Trump during his first term has represented Maine since 1997, the Democratic Party has made inroads there. The state backed former Vice President Kamala Harris by seven points last year and former President Joe Biden won it by nine points in 2020.
In 2020, when Collins was most recently up for reelection, she beat former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, a Democrat, with 51 percent of the vote. This was a smaller margin than when she won her 2014 reelection with a 37-point margin.
If the Democrats win Maine, it could help them regain their majority in the Senate and impact the passage of key legislation.
What To Know
According to the polling of 500 likely voters, Platner, an oyster farmer and populist outsider, is ahead of Collins by 14 points while Mills, who flipped the governor's office in 2020 by about seven points, and said she will run for the seat on Friday, in plans first reported by the Associated Press, is ahead of Colling by 8 points.
The poll also found that Collins has a 39 percent approval rating while 48 percent approve of Mills.
Meanwhile, Morning Consult found earlier this year that Mills had a net approval rating of +2 while Collins’ approval was -16.
A Pan Atlantic Research poll found that 49 percent of Mainers view Collins her favorably and 45 percent view her unfavorable. It also found that 52 percent of respondents viewed Mills favorably, while 44 percent viewed her unfavorably. It surveyed 840 likely voters from May 12 to May 26, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
However, speaking to Newsweek, Thomas Gift, a political scientist who runs the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London (UCL) said voters may still opt for Collins when they head to the polls. "As the longest-serving woman in the Senate, Susan Collins has decades of seniority — and Maine voters know that spells real power in Washington," he said. "Her position on the Senate Appropriations Committee, in particular, gives her major influence over federal spending, which translates into tangible benefits for Maine. That’s likely to make voters think twice before unseating her, even when national tides run against Republicans."
What People Are Saying
Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, wrote on X on Thursday: “Graham Platner is a great working class candidate for Senate in Maine who will defeat Susan Collins. It’s disappointing that some Democratic leaders are urging Governor Mills to run. We need to focus on winning that seat & not waste millions on an unnecessary & divisive primary.”
What Happens Next
With over a year to go until the midterms, Collins' popularity and chances of winning her seat are likely to fluctuate. The elections take place in November 2026.
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