Poll Shows Democratic Candidate Leading Republican Incumbent in Maine Senate Race

A new poll shows the Democratic Senate candidate holding a nine-point lead over the Republican incumbent in Maine's upcoming election. The University of New Hampshire survey, conducted May 21-25, found the Democratic candidate at 51 percent support among likely voters, compared with 42 percent for the Republican incumbent.

Six percent of respondents were undecided, and 2 percent backed other candidates. The poll was released two weeks before Maine's primary election. The Democratic candidate leads with 76 percent support in the Democratic primary, while the incumbent Republican faces no challengers for the Republican nomination.

The Democratic candidate is a veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and works as an oyster farmer.

Democrats said they would support the Democratic candidate, while 87 percent of Republicans said they would back the Republican incumbent. The Republican incumbent held a 47 percent to 44 percent edge among independents. The Democratic candidate has faced criticism over past online comments and a tattoo obtained in 2007 that was later covered after it was found to resemble a Nazi symbol.

The candidate apologized for some of the online comments after they were reported last fall but declined to apologize when asked about a deleted post concerning a wounded soldier. A Democratic representative from Massachusetts stated this week that the candidate's tattoo and related commentary are personally disqualifying.

The Republican incumbent said in an interview earlier this month that voters would reach their own conclusions about whether the Democratic candidate is too far to the left.