The first Emerson College Polling survey of the 2026 U.S. Senate election finds oyster farmer Graham Platner leading Governor Janet Mills in the Democratic Primary election, 55% to 28%. Thirteen percent are undecided.
“Graham Platner has a significant lead over Governor Mills, which is outside the poll’s margin of error,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Male voters support Platner by a 41-point margin, 63% to 22%, while women support Platner by an 18-point margin, 50% to 32%.”
In hypothetical general election match-ups, both Platner and Mills have an edge over incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins. Between Platner and Collins, 48% support Platner and 41% Collins; 6% support someone else and are undecided, respectively. In a matchup between Mills and Collins, 46% support Mills, 43% Collins, 8% someone else, and 3% are undecided.
“In the general election, Mills and Platner both have an edge over incumbent Senator Collins among women voters: Platner leads 52% to 35%, and Mills leads 53% to 36%,” Kimball noted.
A majority of Maine voters hold an unfavorable view of Senator Collins (57%), while 38% hold a favorable view of her, and 5% are neutral. A majority also have an unfavorable view of Governor Mills (54%), while 40% have a favorable view of the Governor; 6% are neutral. Platner’s favorability is split: 42% have a favorable view of him and 38% negative. Five percent have never heard of Platner, and 15% are neutral.
“Fifty-two percent of Mills primary voters have an unfavorable view of Graham Platner, while 18% have a favorable view of him, whereas 56% of Platner voters have a favorable view of Mills, and 36% have an unfavorable view of the Governor,” Kimball noted.
“Collins has a net 30-point unfavorable rating among independent voters (62% to 32%), and Mills has a net 13-point unfavorable rating among this group (52% to 39%), whereas Platner has a six-point net favorable rating among independents, 41% to 35%,” Kimball added.
Maine Poll Methodology
The Emerson College Polling Maine survey was conducted March 21-23, 2026. The overall sample of Maine likely voters, n=1,075, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 2.9 percent. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting registered voters from a voter file provided by Aristotle using MMS text-to-web and email; a panel of voters provided by Consensus Strategies using MMS text-to-web; and additional panel interviews provided by PureSpectrum. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with exact wording and order, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found below.
