Two newly released polls on Maine’s hotly contested 2026 U.S. Senate race returned very different outcomes: One shows oysterman Graham Platner beating Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic primary and then Sen. Susan Collins in a potential general election matchup, while the other suggests Platner would lose to Collins in a head-to-head race.

Both surveys have connections to the campaigns they appear to favor. The poll showing Platner ahead in the two races was conducted by a branch of a progressive organization where his new campaign manager previously worked, while the one showing Platner behind Collins was commissioned by a group that endorsed Mills last month.

The first poll, conducted by the Maine People’s Resource Center between Oct. 26-29, gave Platner a 41.0% to 39.2% lead over Mills in the primary, with 14.5% of likely voters undecided.

Another 5.3% of respondents said they planned to support former congressional staffer Jordan Wood, who announced Wednesday that he is dropping out of the Senate race to seek the 2nd District U.S. House seat set to be vacated by Rep. Jared Golden.

In a ranked-choice vote between the two leading Democrats, Platner garnered 53.4% of support compared to 46.6% for Mills.

When it comes to the general election, the poll suggests Platner — but not Mills — would beat Collins.

Those polled favored Platner over Collins, 44.8% to 40.9%, with 14.3% undecided. But Collins leads 45.8% to 41.7% against Mills, with 12.5% of respondents undecided.

The poll surveyed 783 Maine voters and has a margin of error of 3.5%.

The Maine People’s Resource Center is a branch of the progressive advocacy group Maine People’s Alliance. Ben Chin, the organization’s now-former deputy director, was named Platner’s campaign manager last week.

Meanwhile, the poll indicating Platner would lose to Collins was conducted by the liberal-leaning consulting firm Impact Research and commissioned by Emily’s List, an organization that works to elect Democratic women who support abortion rights and endorsed Mills in October.

The Impact Research poll did not ask respondents about the Democratic primary or Mills’ chances against Collins. Instead, it focused on voters’ appetite for Platner after controversies struck his campaign.

Platner entered the race as an unknown but quickly caught steam with liberals in search of a more progressive candidate. Shortly after Mills announced her candidacy, years-old social media posts from Platner, including some that were considered racist and sexist, began to surface. He has apologized for those comments and said they don’t represent who he is today. Platner also revealed that while in the Marines years ago, he got a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol; he has since covered it.

After first summarizing Platner’s platform and the controversies he’s faced, a slight majority of those polled by Impact Research favored Collins (51%), while just 42% supported Platner.

Then, those respondents were read information lifted from Platner’s social posts, and Collins’ lead increased to 57% to 38%.

Finally, after respondents were prompted with Platner’s response to the controversies, he recovered but still trailed Collins, 55% to 41%.

The Impact Research poll is based on responses from 700 likely 2026 general election voters in Maine between Oct. 22-27. The margin of error is 3.7%.