Susan Collins ahead of her Democratic challenger in a crucial Senate showdown in blue-leaning Maine. Collins, who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate, stands at 49% support among likely voters, with former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee, at 46%, with 5% undecided in the New York Times/Siena poll. Collins' three-point edge is within the survey's margin of error.
Democrats are heavily targeting Collins as they work to flip the seat, which is key to their efforts to win back the Senate majority from the Republicans in the midterm elections. The survey, which was conducted Sept. 15-22, is one of the first to indicate Collins ahead of Jackson since he replaced former Senate nominee Graham Platner in late July. SIX FORCES THAT COULD HELP REPUBLICANS DEFY HISTORY IN THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS Platner, a combat veteran and oyster farmer, won the June Democratic Senate primary in a landslide.
But a month later he dropped out following an explosive report containing an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. Platner denied the report but stepped aside. Collins slightly trailed Platner in most polling at the time he ended his campaign.
Jackson, who campaigned alongside Platner earlier this year as he unsuccessfully ran for governor, won a special nominating convention to fill the party's vacant Senate nomination. The poll release came as Collins pushed back against a report by ProPublica that the FBI sought to launch a pay-to-play investigation examining Collins and others. The investigation was later dropped and no one working for Collins was charged.
Collins ripped the report as "offensive" and a "partisan hit job" orchestrated by Democrats. Jackson took to social media to claim that "Susan Collins is blatantly corrupt." Collins' advantage over Jackson in the new survey comes even as 55% of those questioned said they prefer Democrats to control the Senate next year, with 43% saying they'd like the GOP to retain the majority. COLLINS TEARS INTO NEW REPORT ALLEDGING PAY-TO PLAY SCHEME Likely boosting Collins are her favorable ratings, which are in positive territory, at 51%-48%.
Meanwhile Jackson, a fifth-generation logger and a one-time conservative Republican who became a Democrat over two decades ago and who is now running on a progressive platform, is underwater with a 41% of those questioned viewing him favorably and 49% holding an unfavorable view. As he quickly became the frontrunner in the abbreviated race to replace Platner, Jackson faced a slew of media reports over his alleged temper and workplace conduct, as well as reported claims of mortgage improprieties and other potential liabilities, including his past strict anti-abortion stance. In August, a resurfaced 1988 police record which detailed accusations that Jackson assaulted a man and pushed his longtime partner during a late-night confrontation in Fort Kent, Maine, grabbed headlines.
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