Colby College-Boston Globe poll: Clinton Barely Ahead of Donald Trump in Maine, 42% to 39%

COULD MAINE REALLY BE IN PLAY FOR THE 2016 ELECTION?

According to a recent Colby College-Boston Globe poll released Tuesday, the presidential race in Maine is now within the margin of error, with Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump, 42 percent to 39 percent. If this continues and states that were supposed to be a given and a safe state for Democrat Hillary Clinton, one has to wonder what other “blue” states could flip this time around. Make no mistake about it, this is a different kind of election and the old rules and state voting trends may not apply.

Of all the states once seen as clearly in Hillary Clinton’s column, a new survey identifies the one perhaps most likely to tip to Donald Trump — and that state is Maine.

A Colby College-Boston Globe poll released Tuesday shows the presidential race in Maine is now within the margin of error, with Clinton leading Trump, 42 percent to 39 percent.

Also significant: The poll of likely voters, conducted last week by SurveyUSA, showed only a small portion of respondents, 5 percent, remain undecided less than eight weeks before Election Day.

Trump’s ascendancy in Maine is largely due to his dominance in the vast northern sector of the state — but analysts say it’s also a reflection of how Maine, like many other parts of the country, has become geographically more polarized. Its northern reaches, mostly rural, tend to be far more conservative than the southern, populous part of the state.

“Mainers for the first time in a while have to pay attention to the statewide race for president,” said Dan Shea, a political science professor and director of the Goldfarb Center at Colby College. “The Clinton campaign can no longer take this state for granted.”