Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is leading Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in the race for her seat by 7 points, according to a new poll.

In the Pan Atlantic Research poll, 48 percent of likely voters said they back Platner in a hypothetical matchup, while 41 percent said they support Collins. Eleven percent were undecided.

When broken down by gender, 53 percent of women respondents backed Platner and 34 percent supported Collins. Men surveyed, meanwhile, said they support Collins over Platner, with 47 percent backing the incumbent and 44 percent supporting her potential challenger.

The Democratic Party establishment was rattled when Platner’s competitor in the primary, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign for Senate in late April as polls showed she was badly trailing her rival Democrat. The state’s Democratic primary is on June 9.

Platner’s rise came amid heated discussion over the party’s future and outsiders from the left taking their place in the spotlight, such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), whose own race last year generated significant national attention.

However, Platner has also faced controversy in recent months over reports about controversial social media posts he made years before his Senate bid and the revelation that he had a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, which he later said he had covered.

The Pan Atlantic Research poll took place from May 8-18, featuring 827 likely voters and a 3.7 percent margin of error.

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