Maine Public interviews Brewer about early gubernatorial race poll results
Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine, spoke with Maine Public about a telephone survey that shows Republican Mary Mayhew leading Sen. Susan Collins in a race for the Republican nomination for governor. Maine Public reported the primary is not until next June and Collins has not said she will run. Brewer said it’s early in the political season and some GOP voters polled may have been more interested in sending a message to Collins that they are not happy with her votes on issues such as the Affordable Care Act, and not actually indicating how they would vote in a GOP primary. “A lot of them say they will not vote for Susan Collins,” he said. “We see here Susan Collins versus someone else — 28 percent for the senator, 62 percent for someone else.” Brewer said the poll does suggest Collins has problems with the Republican base even though she recently was named the second most popular senator in the country. However, Brewer said he has no doubt Collins would win the election for governor, if she could survive a primary.