This week on Pine Tree Pulse, we discuss the latest Maine politics poll from UNH, which revealed several very interesting things about the state of play in Maine.
First up is the gigantic lead that democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner has over Janet Mills. Despite two weeks of relentless scandal and bad news, Platner is beating Mills by 34 points (58% for Platner, 24% for Mills). Admittedly, the poll was conducted before certain revelations came to light, most notably the “Nazi tattoo” scandal, but it still paints a very grim picture for Maine’s incumbent governor as she seeks a promotion to the Senate.
We also talk about Maine’s 2nd District, where former governor Paul LePage is holding a nominal lead over Rep. Jared Golden. The race remains close, though, and it is clearly too early to make any confident predictions in that race.
We also chat about the two referendum questions that are on the ballot this November. UNH’s poll suggests that both are up for grabs, each being so close that they are within the margin of error for the poll. Turnout will clearly matter a lot in two weeks.
Finally, we discuss the recent report from Maine Policy Institute, “Accountability Gap: Applying Charter Standards to Maine’s Public Schools.” The report details the double-standard that exists with the way we evaluate traditional public schools and charters, and the poor performance of traditional schools were they to assess themselves on charter standards.
All this and more on this week’s edition of Pine Tree Pulse.