A toss-up race with months to go is not where Susan Collins wants to be as she tries for a fifth term. Sara Gideon, the much better option for Maine and the country leads in the poll, 43-42, with what cable news folks like to call 'a virtual tie'.

Source: Bangor Daily News

AUGUSTA, Maine — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was nearly tied with a top Democratic rival in a poll released Tuesday by Colby College that showed a bump for House Speaker Sara Gideon since the 2020 race was last surveyed months ago.

Gideon, who is one of four Democrats running in a June primary for the nomination to face Collins in November, had 43 percent of support in the survey. The Republican incumbent had 42 percent support with another 14 percent of voters undecided. The poll was conducted earlier this month and had an error margin of just over 3 percentage points.

The poll of more than 1,000 Maine voters was conducted by phone and online by faculty at the Waterville college and SocialSphere, a Massachusetts-based pollster. The Wall Street Journal first reported the poll on Tuesday. It showed heavy movement since the last survey of the race in June, when Collins led Gideon in one hypothetical matchup by 16 percentage points.