Platner Opens Up 9-Point Lead Even After Pro-Collins PAC Spends Millions on Negative Ads

Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the US Senate in Maine, has opened up a nine-point lead over incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, according to a poll released Wednesday by the University of New Hampshire.In a head-to-head matchup, the poll shows Platner gaining 51 of the vote, compared to 42 for Collins (R-Maine). A February UNH poll showed Platner with an 11-point lead over Collins, although that survey left Platner just short of getting 50 of voters.In 2020, polls universally showed Collins trailing against Democratic nominee Sara Gideon, although those same polls also rarely showed Gideon reaching or exceeding the 50 threshold.The UNH poll is the second major poll released since Platner's chief rival, Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign nearly a month ago. Last week, a Pan Atlantic Research survey showed Platner leading Collins by seven percentage points, an increase from a March survey that showed him leading by four points.Platner's widening lead comes even as a super political action committee (PAC) supporting Collins has spent millions of dollars in negative ads against the presumptive Democratic nominee, criticizing posts he wrote on Reddit several years ago and his since-covered tattoo of a skull and crossbones resembling an insignia worn by Nazi soldiers.Semafor politics reporter Dave Weigel argued that the latest polls appear to show that Maine voters have processed that [Platner is] the Bad Posts and Tat guy already, and are still supporting his campaign.Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim similarly observed that the latest bad poll for Collins came after the GOP threw their best... oppo at Platner.The poll also showed progressive gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, the former president of the Maine state Senate, was tied in the primary race with former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director Nirav Shah; both had the support of 28 of respondents.The same poll showed in February that Jackson was in third place, behind Shah and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.Like Platner, Jackson has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and has run a campaign focused on issues affecting working Mainers. Platner said at a rally this week that he had ranked Jackson first on his ballot during early voting in Maine, which uses ranked choice voting.