2008 United States Senate election in Maine

2008 United States Senate election in Maine

November 4, 2008

Nominee Susan Collins Tom Allen Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 444,300 279,510 Percentage 61.33% 38.58%

Collins:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Allen:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Susan Collins Republican Elected U.S. Senator Susan Collins Republican

The 2008 United States Senate election in Maine took place on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins won re-election to a third term against Democrat Tom Allen, the U.S. Congressman from the 1st district.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Tom Allen, U.S. Representative
• Thomas Ledue, educator

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tom Allen	69,932	85.6%
	Democratic	Tom Ledue	11,795	14.4%
Total votes			81,727	100.0%

General election

Campaign

Allen tried to tie Collins to George W. Bush, but these tactics failed as Collins maintained her image as a very popular, moderate, independent Republican. She obtained an endorsement from Independent and former Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman.

When Collins was first elected in 1996 she pledged to serve only two terms (twelve years) in office, which would have been up in 2008. She instead decided to seek a third term, and defeated Allen with over 60% of the vote. She was the only Republican Senate candidate to win in 2008 in a state that was simultaneously won by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Likely R	October 23, 2008
CQ Politics	Lean R	October 31, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report	Likely R	November 2, 2008
Real Clear Politics	Likely R	November 1, 2008

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Tom Allen (D)	Susan Collins (R)
Rasmussen Reports	November 1, 2008	41%	57%
Survey USA	October 20, 2008	43%	54%
Rasmussen Reports	October 2, 2008	43%	53%
Survey USA	September 22–23, 2008	39%	55%
Rasmussen Reports	September 17, 2008	42%	55%
Rasmussen Reports	August 12, 2008	40%	55%
Rasmussen Reports	July 17, 2008	42%	49%
Pan Atlantic SMS Group	June 18, 2008	31%	56%
Rasmussen Reports	June 16, 2008	42%	49%
Rasmussen Reports	May 14, 2008	42%	52%
Rasmussen Reports	April 1, 2008	38%	54%
McLaughlin & Associates/ Coalition for a Democratic Workforce	March 6–9, 2008	31%	54%
Critical Insights	October 12–30, 2007	34%	54%
Survey USA	October 26–29, 2007	38%	55%
Research 2000/Daily Kos	October 15–17, 2007	33%	56%

Results

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Susan Collins (incumbent)	444,300	61.33%	+2.9%
	Democratic	Tom Allen	279,510	38.58%	−3.0%
	Write-in		620	0.09%	n/a
Total votes			724,430	100.00%	n/a
	Republican hold

See also

• 2008 United States Senate elections

External links

• Elections Division from the Maine Secretary of State
• U.S. Congress candidates for Maine at Project Vote Smart
• Maine, U.S. Senate from CQ Politics
• Maine U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
• Maine U.S. Senate race from 2008 Race Tracker
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Collins vs Allen graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• ME-Sen: Baseline poll kos, DailyKos, October 22, 2007
• A Lopsided Senate Lineup Charlie Cook, Cook Political January 20, 2007