Name: Sen. Susan Collins falls further behind Democrat rival Sara Gideon in latest poll out of Maine
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Sen. Susan Collins falls further behind Democrat rival Sara Gideon in latest poll out of Maine

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Sen. Susan Collins and Rep Sara Gideon--Embattled Republican&nbsp;Sen. Susan Collins of&nbsp;Maine trails Democratic rival&nbsp;Sara Gideon by eight points among registered voters in a new&nbsp;.Though Collins registers slightly higher among likely voters, she&nbsp;still trails Gideon by five points in the demo. That figure represents a slight slip from a four-point deficit in last month's .Perhaps more troubling for Collins? She is the only statewide elected official with a negative&nbsp;approval rating.&nbsp;Voters approve of&nbsp;Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, by a margin of 55% to 23%,&nbsp;and Sen. Angus King, an independent, by a margin of 55% to 33%. In Collins' case, however, Mainers disapprove of her job performance by a margin of 49% to&nbsp;37%. Collins,&nbsp;the only&nbsp;of the three officials&nbsp;on a 2020&nbsp;ballot, has a 12-point approval gap.Because Maine is a nuanced state&nbsp;which historically prides itself on its political&nbsp;independence, Collins' fate may be tied closer to voters' view&nbsp;of the&nbsp;state. While&nbsp;only 27% of Maine voters think the country is on the right track, 58% think Maine is doing well.&nbsp;On the national front, the&nbsp;poll&nbsp;shows presumptive Democratic nominee Joe&nbsp;Biden with a comfortable lead over President Donald Trump&nbsp;—&nbsp;44% to 36%. Trump's approval is also deeply underwater&nbsp;—&nbsp;36% to 56%.&nbsp;Those numbers are disconcerting if voters identify Collins more closely with the president than Maine.&nbsp;To that end, a source familiar with internal Republican Party&nbsp;discussions told Salon that Senate Republicans and election&nbsp;strategists have decided to focus resources almost entirely on holding two seats in November: Collins in Maine&nbsp;and Cory Gardner in Colorado. The Cook Political Report &nbsp;both races as&nbsp;toss-ups.Spending in the state supports this revelation. Conservative organizations&nbsp;such as &nbsp;have invested heavily in Collins, while on the other side, the influential Republican-led never-Trump .One&nbsp;dark money group affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and election strategist Karl Rove has&nbsp;&nbsp;since January. Collins toppled McConnell in public-opinion polling as&nbsp;&nbsp;the same month.The same source also told&nbsp;Salon that a series of unproductive discussions with Trump at the White House&nbsp;last month raised serious concerns about the president's commitment and electability, leading the Republican Party&nbsp;to shift to a Collins-centric strategy&nbsp;in Maine.&nbsp;A sizable chunk of Republican efforts are now&nbsp;aiming&nbsp;to divorce&nbsp;Collins from Trump in the minds of voters without alienating enthusiasm from the Trump crowd.Over&nbsp;the last few months, the Collins campaign has mirrored&nbsp;that strategy. For instance, &nbsp;amid the twin crises of the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide&nbsp;upheaval in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.Collins' advertising efforts have leaned heavily on video testimonials from Maine voters, but that more than 20 of&nbsp;those testimonials, packaged as "regular" Mainers, came from current or former elected Republican officials and Collins staffers.Roger Sollenberger was a staff writer at Salon (2020-21). Follow him on Twitter&nbsp;.MORE FROM

Sen. Susan Collins and Rep Sara Gideon--Embattled Republican&nbsp;Sen. Susan Collins of&nbsp;Maine trails Democratic rival&nbsp;Sara Gideon by eight points among registered voters in a new&nbsp;.Though Collins registers slightly higher among likely voters, she&nbsp;still trails Gideon by five points in the demo. That figure represents a slight slip from a four-point deficit in last month's .Perhaps more troubling for Collins? She is the only statewide elected official with a negative&nbsp;approval rating.&nbsp;Voters approve of&nbsp;Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, by a margin of 55% to...

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Sen. Susan Collins falls further behind Democrat rival Sara Gideon in latest poll out of Maine

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