Jackson, El-Sayed hold slight edge in key Senate races: CNN poll

A new poll found Democratic Senate nominees Troy Jackson and Abdul El-Sayed holding slight leads in their respective races , with less than two months before Election Day.

The CNN/SSRS survey , released Wednesday, found that 48 percent of 880 registered voters in Maine backed Jackson, while 45 percent said they will vote for five-term incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Another 4 percent said they would vote for neither candidate, while 3 percent backed another candidate.

Of the 839 Mainers who voiced support for a candidate, 82 percent said their mind is already made up. Roughly 18 percent of the remainder acknowledged they could change their mind while the rest did not pick a candidate, according to the poll.

Jackson’s lead over Collins was within the margin of error of 3.7 percentage points. The Democrat most recently was the president of the Maine Senate for six years, a tenure ending in 2024.

As for El-Sayed, a progressive and former Wayne County, Mich., health official, led former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) by 3 points in the CNN poll, with 47 percent support to the GOP candidate’s 44 percent.

Five percent of the 843 respondents backed neither candidate, while 3 percent said they will vote for someone else in the Wolverine State. El-Sayed’s lead, like that of Jackson, was within the margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.

A larger share of likely Michigan voters could be persuaded, the survey shows. More than a quarter of those who already picked a candidate said they either could change their mind or have not yet picked a candidate.

El-Sayed and Rogers are battling to succeed outgoing Sen. Gary Peters (D), who has represented Michigan in the upper chamber for two terms. While a Republican has not won a Senate race in the state since former Sen. Spencer Abraham in 1994, President Trump won Michigan in two of his three presidential runs.

The Maine and Michigan races are crucial in the fight for Senate control, as Democrats need to pick up a net of four seats to retake the upper chamber.

As of Tuesday, Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) gave Jackson and El-Sayed a 53 percent and 66 percent chance to win their races, respectively.

DDHQ gives Democrats a slightly better than 50-50 shot to win the Senate, a shift from late July — when it gave Republicans a 6 in 10 chance at maintaining control.