Susan Collins trailing by 5 points in new Maine poll

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a top Democratic target in the battle for control of the Senate, is trailing her Democratic challenger, Sara Gideon, by 5 points in a New York Times-Siena College poll.

Collins trails Gideon, the Speaker of Maine’s House of Representatives, 44 percent to 49 percent, according to the survey of 663 likely voters in Maine.

The poll showed that 50 percent of voters have a very favorable or somewhat favorable view of Collins, while 47 percent had a somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable view of her.

Fifty-five percent of voters said they have a very favorable or somewhat favorable view of Gideon, while 40 percent have a somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable view of the challenger.

President Trump’s low approval rating Maine appears to be Collins’s biggest liability.

Only 39 percent of likely voters strongly or somewhat approve of Trump’s job performance while seven percent somewhat disapprove and a whopping 53 percent strongly disapprove.

The survey shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leading Trump by 17 points, 55 percent to 38 percent, in Maine.

Fifty-seven percent of likely voters in Maine have a very favorable or somewhat favorable view of Biden, and 42 percent have a somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable view of the former vice president.

Collins has her strongest support among voters aged 45 to 65 years old, leading Gideon 49 percent to 45 percent.

But she trails Gideon 37 percent to 56 percent among voters aged 18 to 44.

The poll was conducted from Sept. 11 to Sept. 16 and has a 5.1-point margin of error.

It’s the second poll this week showing Collins, who is running to be a reelected to a fifth Senate term, in serious trouble.

A Quinnipiac University poll published Wednesday showed Gideon leading Collins by 12 points.

The survey of 1,183 likely voters in Maine found that 43 percent viewed her favorably while 51 percent viewed her unfavorably.

Gideon is viewed positively by 49 percent of likely voters and negatively by 37 percent, according to the Quinnipiac poll, which was conducted from Sept. 10 to Sept 14 and had a margin of error of 2.9 points.

Collins has often been on the defensive since Trump won the 2016 election, most prominently when she was under intense pressure to vote against confirming Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the summer of 2018.

Collins was a critical vote in the Trump impeachment trial earlier this year. She voted to prolong the Senate trial to hear from additional witnesses but ultimately voted against convicting him on either of the two articles of impeachment.