Platner vs. Collins Dogfight: New Poll Shows Tight Race Ahead of June 9 Primary

By Libby Palanza, Maine Wire Reporter

According to a new Pine Tree State Poll, a States of Opinion Project conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, Graham Platner has a 73 percent favorability rating among likely voters in Maine’s Democratic primary.

Incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R), on the other hand, has a 65 percent favorability rating among those who are likely to vote in Maine’s Republican primary election.

In a head-to-head match up, Platner holds a several point lead over Sen. Collins, albeit by a slightly smaller margin than several months ago, as more undecided voters have moved to support the sitting senator, as well as some of those who were previously interested in supporting another candidate.

Source: University of New Hampshire Survey Center, Pine Tree State Poll, a States of Opinion Project

For Maine’s gubernatorial race, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson and former Director of the Maine Centers for Disease Control Nirav Shah are neck-and-neck in the Democratic primary, as former Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Robert Charles holds a strong lead on the Republican side.

Earlier this year, Shah was shown to hold a sizable lead over Jackson, but they are now tied as several percentage points worth of support have shifted away from Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

Both former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Hannah Pingree and energy executive Angus King III also appear to have gained some support but to a much less notable degree.

Many of these changes can likely be attributed to the fact that the share of undecided voters is now less than half of what it was earlier this year.

Source: University of New Hampshire Survey Center, Pine Tree State Poll, a States of Opinion Project

Among Republicans, Charles’ lead has remained consistent with support expanding from 28 percent to 37 percent.

That said, healthcare executive Jonathan Bush has gained significant ground over the past several months, going from controlling just 5 percent of the field to 18 percent.

Also gaining ground was businessman Ben Midgley, who nearly doubled his support from 6 percent to 11 percent.

Former Maine Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason lost ground over the past several months, however, with the share of respondents expressing interest in voting for him in the primary dropping from 12 percent to 9 percent.

Most of these changes are likely due to the massive drop in the share of voters expected to participate in the Republican primary who are unsure of the candidate they want to support, as this figure has plummeted from 31 percent to just 9 percent.

Source: University of New Hampshire Survey Center, Pine Tree State Poll, a States of Opinion Project

This survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percent. 1,397 Mainers completed the survey between May 21 and May 25.

595 likely Democratic primary voters were included in the sample, as well as 465 likely Republican primary voters.

Click Here to Read the Full Results of the Poll

Early voting for the June 9, 2026 primary election has already begun.

Requests for an absentee ballot must be received by a voter’s municipality by the close of business on Thursday, June 4. In-person absentee voting will be available through this same date.

Maine citizens who are not yet registered to vote may do so until the close of polls on election day.

Anyone who is unsure of their voter registration status may contact their local municipal clerk’s office to check.

Contact information for all Maine municipal clerks and registrars is available here. A statewide online lookup tool is not currently available.

The June 9 primary election will make use of ranked choice voting, meaning that voters will have the option to express support on their ballot for multiple candidates.

In the event that one candidate does not receive at least 50 percent of the votes cast, the candidate with the least amount of votes will be knocked out of the running. Votes will then be distributed to whichever candidates were marked as a second choice on ballots cast by those supporting the eliminated candidate.

This process continues until one candidate emerges with majority support.

When filling out a ranked choice ballot, voters may rank multiple candidates, vote only for a first choice selection, or fill out all ranking slots in favor of one candidate.

Click Here for More Information on the Upcoming Primary Election