CNN Polls Show Democrats Ahead in Texas, Michigan; Maine and Kansas Senate Races Too Close

A new CNN poll of four key Senate races found Democrats well-positioned in Michigan and Texas, while Maine and Kansas had no clear leader, days before the November 3 midterm elections. In Maine, 49% of respondents favored Democrat Troy Jackson and 45% favored Republican Sen. Susan Collins, and at least 12.5% of voters said they could still change their minds. Jackson, a former president of the state Senate, replaced Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee after Platner dropped out. Collins is the only Republican incumbent running in a state Kamala Harris won in 2024. Democrats need to flip four Republican-held seats to reach a 51-seat majority, which would protect them from the vice presidential tiebreaker. Some of their targets are in states President Trump won by double digits in 2024. Collins said in an interview that she can bring federal funding to Maine and that Jackson would rank 100th in seniority if elected.

Left-leaning outlets frame the story around the Democratic route to the majority. CNN's headline says Democrats are in striking distance and highlights its four-state polling. The New York Times instead stresses difficulty, noting that some targets are states Trump won by double digits, and presents analysis from election data reporter Evan Reynolds. Neither excerpt includes Maine-specific figures or Collins' comments. Fox News, on the right, leads with Maine and Kansas being neck and neck, while noting Democrats lead in Texas and Michigan. It centers on Collins, featuring her interview, her federal-funding record and her seniority attack on Jackson. It also gives the 49%-45% split and calls Platner scandal-plagued. Both sides rely on the same CNN poll and the four-seat threshold; they differ on whether Democratic opportunity or the Republican incumbent's pitch comes first. Tangle, an independent outlet, narrows in on Maine's Collins-Jackson matchup.