The GOP may be gearing up to lose their Senate majority in the upcoming November elections. The Maine U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Susan Collins is one of the most vulnerable on the Republican side, and a newly released poll has Collins a stunning nine percent behind her likely general election challenger, Democrat Sara Gideon. In the Victory Geek survey, which was conducted on behalf of state Democrats, Gideon secured a full 51 percent of the support, while Collins had a meager 42 percent, giving the Democrats a full nine percent lead.
#NEW Maine Senate Poll:
Sara Gideon (D) 51%
Susan Collins (R-inc) 42%@VictoryGeek / D Internal— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) May 28, 2020
In both of the other polls that FiveThirtyEight has cataloged since the start of 2020 that were conducted measuring support in a Collins-Gideon match-up, Gideon is in the lead. In a March Public Policy Polling survey, Gideon secured 47 percent of the support compared to just 43 percent for Collins. In a Social Sphere survey conducted in February, Gideon had 43 percent of the support, while Collins had just 42 percent.
Collins has ended up profoundly unpopular in the wake of her allegiance to the Trump agenda. One recent survey reported on by NEWS CENTER Maine named Collins the “most disliked US Senator,” and that’s not exactly good for a re-election bid. She has voted in favor of key Trump initiatives like the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, even after stories emerged of sexual abuse that he perpetrated in years past. She also voted to acquit Trump of both charges against him at the conclusion of his recent impeachment trial. Utah Republican Mitt Romney was the only GOP Senator to vote in favor of conviction on either charge; he voted to convict Trump of abuse of power.
Besides Collins, the Senate GOP is also especially vulnerable to losing the seats held by Republicans in North Carolina, Arizona, and Colorado. In each one of those states and Maine, the likely Democratic general election candidate raised more money than their Republican challenger during the first quarter of 2020. The current Republican president’s profound unpopularity could be helping to spell doom for Republican candidates all across the ballot.
