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| 📷 Former Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, speaks at an April 19, 2021, news conference outside the State House in Augusta on a proposal for an electric utility that would be run by an elected board. (BDN photo by Caitlin Andrews) |
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⚡ Proponents of a utility run by an elected board have a fight on their hands.
◉ Maine voters are evenly split on the blockbuster utility referendum on the November ballot, according to a poll released last week by Digital Research, Inc. It found 41 percent in favor of the question backed by the political group Our Power, 40 percent opposed in alignment with the major utilities and the remaining 19 percent undecided.
◉ Proponents may see this as a welcome sign, given that they have barely spent any money on their political effort so far relative to the millions in ads alone from the parent of Central Maine Power Co. and other opponents. But the backers have a major fight on their hands, and utilities clearly have an opportunity to win over voters at the margins.
◉ Among the poll's other findings are record-low approval for President Joe Biden in Maine, former President Donald Trump commanding a fractured Republican primary field, steady approval ratings for most big-name Maine politicians and supermajority approval for another ballot question to ban foreign government-owned companies from spending in Maine referendums.
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