(NEWS CENTER Maine) — A new poll shows gubernatorial candidate Janet Mills (D) leading the race over Shawn Moody (R) with an 8.5 point edge just two weeks from the midterm elections.
Pan Atlantic Research released the online poll of 500 likely Maine voters that were surveyed in the first week of October. The poll showed Mills, Maine's first female Attorney General, in the lead with 44.4 percent of votes, while 39.5 percent of voters said they would cast their ballot for Moody, who owns a chain of auto body shops.
Moody's campaign on Monday disputed the poll's results, questioning its potential motives and origin.
Pan Atlantic's numbers "[do] not reflect" those compiled internally, a campaign political consultant said, which leads him to believe "someone is trying to manipulate the public … which is unfortunate."
The campaign cited two links: a Press Herald story from 2010 describing pollster Patrick Murphy as a Democrat and his wife, Victoria, director of Pan Atlantic, as former chairwoman of the Maine Democratic Party; and OpenSecrets.org records showing Patrick Murphy's donation history.
Voters were equally split between Maine's two Congressional districts, and the data were weighted using U.S. Census Bureau data of Maine's historical voting population based on age, education, income and gender.
“The second district race between Bruce Poliquin and Jared Golden will be a cliffhanger,” Patrick Murphy, the president of Pan Atlantic Research said.
Bruce Poliquin (R) polled just .5 percent ahead of Jared Golden (D) in the survey putting the two candidates for Maine's Second Congressional District virtually tied in a dead heat.
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On November 6th, Mainers will vote to elect a new governor, along with a US Senator, US Congressional Representatives along with Ballot Questions.