Graham Platner Isn’t Just Surviving. He’s Leading.
It’s easy to see why Mills was pushed into the race. She’s reasonably popular, has high name recognition, and has polled fairly well in head-to-head races against Collins in the past. But her campaign has not gotten off to the start that many intended. Mills announced her candidacy on October 14. Three days later, stories started emerging about Platner’s Reddit history, which included posts in which he said Black people were bad tippers, called “all” cops “bastards,” and said victims of sexual assault and rape should “take some responsibility for themselves.” On October 21, Platner revealed—perhaps getting ahead of more opposition research—that he had unknowingly gotten a “totenkopf,” a Nazi symbol, tattooed on his chest decades earlier. (A few days later, Platner had the tattoo covered with a new tattoo.)
There was clearly a hope among establishment Democrats that Platner would drop out of the race, leaving Mills as the only viable contender. But Platner didn’t duck the accusations; he apologized and addressed them head-on both in the media and in several well-attended town halls throughout the state. It seems to have worked: Platner, in most polls, shows a slight advantage over Mills and in some surveys is much higher.
One of those surveys, conducted by Z to A Research between November 14 and 18, found that both candidates had a one-point advantage in a head-to-head race against Collins: 46 to 45 percent, with seven percent unsure and two percent saying they had no plan to vote. The only difference is in the undecideds: For Platner, seven percent are unsure and two percent say they had no plan to vote; for Mills, those figures are five percent and three percent respectively. That figure is good news for Platner: One of Mills’s most important arguments to voters is that she is the more “electable candidate.” There’s little reason, either from this poll, or several others, to suggest she has a huge advantage there.