AUGUSTA, Maine — A majority of Mainers oppose replacing the state’s two biggest electric utilities with an elected board, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
The University of New Hampshire survey was the first independent one showing that Question 3 is poised for defeat roughly two weeks from Election Day. It echoes a poll last month from Versant Power’s political group that showed Democrats effectively split on the issue, something that would be a death knell for a question pushed by progressives against the powerful utilities.
Roughly 56 percent of Mainers plan to vote against the utility takeover, compared with 31 percent in favor of the idea and another 13 percent undecided, according to UNH’s online poll of nearly 800 likely voters. Just 47 percent of Democrats surveyed planned to vote for Question 3, while 31 percent of independents and 15 percent of Republicans did.
The parents of Versant and Central Maine Power Co. have swamped their opponents in spending this campaign, putting $32 million into their efforts as of Sept. 30 to roughly $1 million from Our Power, the group leading the yes side of the campaign.
It seems that a wave of TV and other ads from the utilities are paying off. More than 9 in 10 Mainers said they have heard or seen a lot or some information about Question 3, while no other issue on the Nov. 7 ballot registered above 81 percent.
CMP and Versant are winning with voters on Question 1, a CMP-led effort that would subject several types of public agencies to voter approval if they plan to borrow more than $1 billion. It was an attempt to counter Question 3, though its impact on state government is expected to be virtually moot if the utility takeover is defeated.
Two other questions on the ballot are almost surefire bets to pass: Roughly three-quarters of Mainers support questions 2 and 4, which attempt to prohibit foreign electioneering in Maine and provide a vehicle “right to repair.”
Confusion is reigning among Maine voters on the four low-profile constitutional amendments on the ballot, according to the poll. Strong majorities said they have heard little to nothing on those items, which run the gamut from a tribal-rights push to low-profile changes to petition laws.
Among those, the one that looks likeliest to pass is Question 6, which would restore parts of the Maine Constitution that were taken out of printed copies as part of changes that took effect in 1876. That included treaty obligations to tribes that are still in legal force. Roughly 46 percent of voters plan to support it, 12 percent oppose it and a whopping 42 percent are undecided.
