A Fox News poll published Tuesday shows the 2026 Maine Senate race remains tight, with incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins holding a narrow lead over Democrat Graham Platner.
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A Fox News poll published Tuesday shows the 2026 Maine Senate race remains tight, with incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins holding a narrow lead over Democrat Graham Platner.
The poll shows that among registered voters, Collins receives 50 percent support to Platner’s 47 percent. The race shifts among the most engaged voters. Platner leads Collins 53 percent to 44 percent among those who say they are extremely motivated to vote, fueled by higher enthusiasm among Democrats.
About 76 percent of Democrats say they are highly motivated to vote, compared to 61 percent of Republicans. The poll also found voters have concerns about both candidates, but worries about Platner run deeper. Roughly one-third of independents said they are extremely concerned about Platner’s judgment, while 30 percent said the same about Collins having served too long.
Just ten percent of Democrats expressed serious concerns about Platner, and ten percent of Republicans said the same about Collins. Fox News Republican pollster Daron Shaw said Maine, along with North Carolina, is one of the Democrats’ best opportunities to flip a Senate seat because it is a blue state represented by a longtime Republican incumbent.
He argued the race could come down to whether voters overlook allegations surrounding Platner in favor of partisan loyalty. Collins performs best with men, voters without a college degree, gun-owning households, and rural voters. Platner leads among women, college graduates, suburban voters, and moderates, although the poll found he is running behind former Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 performance with those groups.
Even though Collins is known as a moderate Republican, she has locked down her own party. The poll shows she has 97 percent of MAGA Republicans behind her and 82 percent of non-MAGA Republicans.
She is actually doing a bit better holding her base than Platner is. Overall, 93 percent of Republicans are backing Collins, compared to 86 percent of Democrats for Platner. As for independents, they are basically a coin flip, with Platner up by just two points — 47 percent to 45 percent.
Although Platner is a military veteran, Collins leads him by 18 points among military voters. Around eight in ten supporters of both Collins and Platner said they have made up their minds, while roughly two in ten said they could still change whom they vote for.
The poll also found the economy remains the biggest concern for Maine voters. Only about one in ten said they are getting ahead financially, while more than four in ten said they are falling behind. Inflation was the issue voters mentioned most often when deciding their Senate vote, followed by political divisions, health care, and immigration.
