AUGUSTA, Maine — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump hold massive leads over their fading primary challengers in a new survey of Maine voters, but Democrats are less enthusiastic about Biden than Republicans are about Trump.
The University of New Hampshire poll released Thursday found 77 percent of likely Republican voters support Trump as their first-choice candidate and that 75 percent of likely Democratic voters support Biden going into Maine’s March 5 primary.
While the poll did not look ahead to a head-to-head matchup between the two in November, it did reveal an enthusiasm gap. In Maine, 53 percent of Republican voters said they would feel “enthusiastic” if Trump — who faces several pending criminal cases and awaits a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on his eligibility in Colorado and Maine — becomes the nominee, while only 32 percent of Democratic voters said the same for Biden.
Still, the online UNH survey that 824 Maine voters completed asked them to rate Biden and Trump on various traits. A majority of Mainers rated Biden more highly than Trump on temperament, honesty and integrity, decision-making and policy positions on major issues.
In a nod to the recent special counsel report that put Biden and the White House on the defensive, 45 percent of Maine voters rated Trump’s “physical and mental fitness” as higher than Biden’s. Mainers were almost evenly divided on whether Biden (44 percent) or Trump (42 percent) possess better communication skills.
Only 19 percent of GOP voters indicated support for Trump’s sole remaining challenger, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, with 3 percent of respondents undecided.
Biden held an even larger lead over longshot U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, with 3 percent of Maine’s Democratic voters indicating support for Phillips, 11 percent unsure and 10 percent supporting unspecified “other” candidates.
The UNH survey only asked Republican voters about their most important issues when considering candidates. The top response was the border and immigration, followed by the cost of living and jobs and the economy.
The survey, which was completed between Feb. 15 and Monday, featured 267 likely Republican primary voters and 263 likely Democratic primary voters, with a total margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.4 percent.