September, 2012 – Congressional Races, Marriage, LePage and Social Security

The Maine People’s Resource Center has released the second round of results from a public opinion poll of likely Maine 2012 voters, with survey information on the Congressional races, the same-sex marriage referendum, Governor LePage’s approval rating and the issue of Social Security caregiver credits. 

In the Congressional contests, both incumbent Democrats are maintaining solid leads, with Congresswoman Chellie Pingree ahead in the First District by 28 percentage points and Congressman Mike Michaud leading in the Second District by a 19-point margin. These numbers are similar to the results of MPRC’s last public poll in April.

MPRC is the first organization to release a public poll testing the actual ballot language of Maine’s same-sex marriage referendum as approved by the Secretary of State. The results of this survey show the Yes side leading with 53% of the vote, 43% opposed and 4% undecided.

Governor LePage’s job approval/disapproval rating, at 39/54, has not changed greatly from MPRC’s last result in April (39/56). 

This poll also found that Mainers overwhelmingly support a federal law providing individuals credit for work they’ve done caring for young children or disabled family members when calculating their social security benefits. 61.4% of respondents were in favor of such a law and 25.6% opposed.

MPRC has a reputation for transparency and accountability in public opinion research and has an unparalleled track record of accuracy in electoral polling in Maine.