A new poll suggests Hillary Clinton is maintaining her lead over Donald Trump in Maine, even potentially reclaiming a narrow edge in the state’s contested 2nd Congressional District.
The survey of 890 likely voters statewide shows Clinton leading her Republican rival 42.1 percent to 36.2 percent in a four-way race also featuring Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. Johnson and Stein received 9.2 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, with 8.7 percent of respondents still undecided, according to the survey conducted by the Maine People’s Resource Center.
The poll, which was conducted October 14-15, has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.
The survey shows that the race in Maine’s more northern congressional district remains tight, however.
Clinton narrowly led Trump 38.2 percent to 37.0 percent in a four-way race scenario in the 2nd Congressional District. That is a change from September – before the most recent controversies over Trump statements – when polls by the Portland Press Herald, Maine People’s Resource Center and several other organizations all showed the Republican leading Clinton to varying degrees. Trump has campaigned in Maine four times while Clinton has sent some high-profile surrogates.
Clinton had a 10-point advantage over Trump in Maine’s more liberal 1st Congressional District in the Maine People’s Resource Center poll.
Maine is one of only two states that can split its electoral college vote among candidates rather than give all votes to overall winner. Maine awards two electoral college votes to the statewide winner but allocates one vote to the winner of each of the state’s two congressional districts. While Maine has never split its vote since adopting the system in the 1970s, the Trump campaign has been hoping to peel off the more conservative 2nd District.
The Maine People’s Resource Center is an affiliate of the Maine People’s Alliance, a liberal activist group in the state.
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