Maine’s Republican Senator Susan Collins may be on her way out of D.C. Yet another new poll shows her losing to Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, who currently serves as a state legislator and the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives. In the new survey, which was released from Public Policy Polling, Gideon had 46 percent of the support compared to just 42 percent for Collins, giving the Democratic contender a four percent lead. The Democratic lead suggests that Collins is definitely vulnerable heading into November.
#Maine Poll:
President:
Biden 53% (+11)
Trump 42%#MEsen:
Gideon (D) 46% (+4)
Collins (R-inc) 42%@ppppolls (6/2-3)— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) July 6, 2020
The new Public Policy Polling survey numbers follow similarly good numbers for Maine Democrats in other polls. Although a poll from earlier in July had Collins up by 8 percent against Gideon, a poll from about a month before that had Gideon up by 9 percent against Collins. Now, of course, there’s another set of numbers with Gideon ahead.
Collins is one of the most politically vulnerable incumbent Republican Senators in the country ahead of November. Other particularly vulnerable Republican Senators are in Colorado, Montana, Arizona, and North Carolina. The currently Republican-held seats in all of these states are currently rated as toss-ups by the Cook Political Report, and in some cases, Democrats hold substantial margins in polling. In Arizona, for instance, Democratic candidate Mark Kelly — who’s a former astronaut and the husband of the state’s former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords — leads incumbent Republican Martha McSally by an average of 6.7 percent, according to RealClearPolitics. Kelly has led in all but one of the polls cataloged this year by the website. As a whole, Democrats need to add at least three seats to their current total to become the chamber’s majority party; if Trump stays in the White House for a second term, the total is four, since vice presidents break Senate ties and Democrats adding three would leave the chamber split 50-50, leaving the VP to break the ties.
President Donald Trump’s own sinking political changes may be helping drag down those of Senate Republicans. In polling, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is currently ahead by an average of 3 percent in North Carolina and 3.5 percent in Arizona. In both states, Republican Senators are struggling to hang onto their seats.
