DURHAM, N.H. — The University of New Hampshire Survey Center released its latest polling numbers as Maine voters head to the polls Tuesday.
The Pine Treet State Poll shows LePage and Poliquin have closed the gap in their races, according to the poll results. Mainers polled are described as 'leaners' or already voted in the 2022 election, according to a Survey Center release.
The survey was conducted from November 2 to November 6, and 988 Maine residents completed the survey. 477 respondents live in Maine's First Congressional District and 433 live in Maine's Second District.
In the race for Governor, incumbent Democrat Janet Mills holds a lead over Republican challenger Paul LePage as 52% of likely Maine voters said they would vote for Mills while 44% would vote for LePage. Meanwhile, 2% of voters said they would vote for Independent candidate Sam Hunkler and 2% of voters were undecided.
In the September Pine Treet State Poll conducted by the UNH Survey Center, LePage had 39% of the projected vote with 5% of voters contacted then being undecided. Mills dropped by one percentage point between polling.
Maine's three-candidate race for the Second Congressional seat also got closer from the September poll.
Incumbent Democrat Jared Golden holds a one-point lead over former Congressman Bruce Poliquin, according to the numbers. If the election were held today, 46% of voters would vote for Golden, a bump from 44% in September. Poliquin also saw a jump as 45% of voters said they would vote for him. Poliquin jumped up 11 percentage points from the September poll.
Independent Tiffany Bond has held steady, as 8% of voters polled said they would vote for her in both the September and November polls. The number of undecided voters contacted by the survey center dropped from 13% to 1% between the two polls.
Republican challenger Ed Theelander did make a 7-point jump in his attempt to unseat Democrat Chellie Pingree in Maine's First Congressional District.
Pingree still holds a strong lead, according to the poll, as 58% of voters would re-elect the Congresswoman while 39% said they would vote for Thelander with 4% of voters still undecided.
Besides polling for Maine's top-of-the-ballot races, the Pine Street Poll also asked voters in Maine about election integrity.
Voters who already voted in 2022 responded strongly to say their voting experience was 'Very Easy' this year. 90% of voters said that while 6% said it was 'Somewhat Easy' and 4% said it was 'Somewhat Difficult'.
Sixty percent of Maine voters said they paid a lot of attention to this year's midterm elections, 30% said they paid some attention while 7% said they paid a little attention. Three percent of voters said they did not pay any attention this year.