Voters in Maine made their pick for president while holding negative views about the country’s direction, according to an expansive AP survey of the American electorate.
The race between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden concluded Tuesday as the nation remains in the throes of a global public health crisis and mired in the economic downturn it brought on. AP VoteCast found that 36% of Maine voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 63% of voters said it is headed in the wrong direction.
Here’s a snapshot of who voted and what matters to them, based on preliminary results from AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of about 133,000 voters and nonvoters — including 1,888 voters and 184 nonvoters in Maine — conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.
TRUMP VS BIDEN
In the race for president, Voters under 45 were more likely to prefer Biden over Trump. Older voters modestly preferred Biden over Trump.
Biden was preferred among college-educated voters while voters without a college degree appeared to prefer Trump.
Suburban voters were more likely to favor Biden over Trump while Biden and Trump were neck and neck among voters in small towns and rural areas.
RACE FOR SENATE
In the race for U.S. Senate, Voters under 45 were split between Sara Gideon and Susan Collins but older voters were more likely to favor Collins.
Collins had an advantage over Gideon among voters without a college degree but college-educated voters were more likely to support Gideon over Collins.
Collins had an advantage among voters in small towns and rural areas but suburban voters leaned toward Gideon.
FACING THE PANDEMIC
The coronavirus pandemic has spread through the U.S. for roughly eight months, killing more than 230,000 Americans. Overall, 19% of voters said the virus in the U.S. is completely or mostly under control, and 27% said it’s somewhat under control. Fifty-three percent of voters think the coronavirus is not at all under control in this country.
ON THE ISSUES
The coronavirus pandemic was top of mind for many voters in Maine. Forty-three percent said it is the most important issue facing the country today.
Voters also considered the economy a major issue, with 28% saying it ranked at the top.
Nine percent named health care, 8% named climate change and 3% named racism.
NATIONAL ECONOMY
Voters were more negative than positive in their assessments of the nation’s economy. Overall, 40% described economic conditions in the U.S. as excellent or good, and 60% called them not so good or poor.
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AP created this story automatically using results from AP VoteCast, a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for Fox News, NPR, PBS NewsHour, Univision News, USA Today Network, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. The survey of 1,888 voters in Maine was conducted for eight days, concluding as polls closed. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The survey combines a random sample of registered voters drawn from the state voter file and self-identified registered voters selected from nonprobability online panels. The margin of sampling error for voters is estimated to be plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. Find more details about AP VoteCast’s methodology at https://ap.org/votecast.
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For AP’s complete coverage of the U.S. presidential elections: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2020
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