AUGUSTA — A new poll from CNN shows a close race for the U.S. Senate, with a slight advantage for former Democratic Maine Senate President Troy Jackson.
Jackson is taking on five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins. The new poll shows Jackson at 48% and Collins at 45%, with a 3.7% margin of error.
The poll also shows about 18% of likely voters saying they could change their mind or that they haven’t yet decided whom to support, according to CNN.
The poll, conducted from Aug. 31-Sept. 6, sampled 880 likely voters using online and phone surveys.
The results are consistent with other polling in the race that began anew in late July when Democrats picked Jackson as their nominee after Sullivan oyster farmer Graham Platner dropped out.
A University of New Hampshire poll released in late July, when Jackson was the presumptive Democratic nominee, showed a statistical tie with Jackson at 49% and Collins at 46%.
A Fox News poll in early August had Jackson at 48% to Collins at 46%.
The race has national implications, with Republicans working to defend Collins in hopes of staying in power, while Democrats see it as a potential pick-up opportunity.
Nationally, Democrats need to flip four seats to take over control of the Senate.
Jackson, 58, finished third in the Democratic primary for governor in June but rallied strong labor support to dominate party meetings and then win the nomination at a July 25 convention in Bangor.
Collins, 73, faced no primary opposition and is seeking a sixth term to the Senate where she serves as chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
When Collins was last on the ballot in 2020, polls in September of that year had her trailing former Democratic Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon 49% to 44%, according to a New York Times/Sienna College poll.
Collins won the race in November with 51% of the vote.