Maine Republicans aren’t so keen on nominating Sen Olympia Snowe (R) for another reelection bid. But if Snowe does get dumped by her own party in a primary election, a PPP poll of registered voters shows that she could still cruise to reelection should she run as an Independent.
Earlier this week, PPP released a poll showing that only one quarter of Republicans in Snowe’s home state think she should be considered a Republican, while a third said she was better described as a Democrat. Further, almost six in ten said they would probably vote for a more conservative candidate should one challenge Snowe in a primary.
Yet as the new release shows, Snowe garners plenty of support from Democratic voters, and could return to the Senate even if her own party dumps her in a primary next year.
In the poll, Snowe handily won four hypothetical three-way match-ups, taking between 54% and 57% in each contest. And interestingly, she actually drew more support from Democrats than from Republicans in those pairings, pulling in nearly 60% of Democratic votes in each.
That scenario wouldn’t be without recent precedent.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) lost the Democratic primary election in 2006, but then formed his own political party and rolled to a general election victory.
The PPP poll was conducted MArch 3-6 among 1,246 registered voters. It has a margin of error of 2.8%.
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