More than 40 percent of Maine residents believe the state is currently on the wrong track—up nearly 10 percent from April 2022, according to a recent Pine Tree State poll, a States of Opinion Project conducted by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Survey Center.

A similar proportion of residents also expressed disapproval of the job performance of Governor Janet Mills (D).

Overall, 43 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Governor Mills’ job to some degree, while 53 percent expressed approval.

When looking at the parties, there is a clear gap between Republicans and Democrats: on the right, 88 percent express their disapproval, while on the left, only 12 percent do so.

However, almost half of the independents also disapproved of Mills’ performance.

In Maine, men are much more likely than women to disapprove of Mills’ job performance: 59 percent express disapproval, compared to only 30 percent of women.

Participants were then asked to identify the most important factor that determined their approval or disapproval of Mills’ job performance.

Of those who expressed disapproval of Mills, her “handling of immigration” (17 percent), her “handling of the budget/finances” (14 percent) and her “handling of Covid-19” (13 percent) were cited as the biggest concerns.

Fifteen percent of respondents who disagreed with the statement cited other, unspecified reasons for their dissatisfaction with Mills’ tenure.

Among those who approve of Mills’ job performance, her “handling of COVID-19” was the most frequently cited reason at 23 percent, followed by her “handling of abortion” at 19 percent. Mills’ “handling of health care” came in a distant third at 8 percent.

Maine residents are largely divided on whether the state is currently moving in the right or wrong direction, although significantly fewer people are unclear about their answer to that question compared to April 2022.

The latest UNH Survey Center poll found that 47 percent of Maine residents believe the state is on the right track, while 42 percent think it is on the wrong track. Only 11 percent were unsure of their answer.

In April 2022, however, 28 percent of respondents expressed uncertainty about whether the state was moving in the right direction.

Republicans are significantly more likely to believe Maine is on the wrong track in 2024 (83 percent), compared to just 9 percent of Democrats.

The opinion of independents is largely divided: about 41 percent say the state is on the wrong path and about 42 percent say it is on the right path.

A clear majority of respondents (30 percent) said housing is the most important problem facing Maine today.

This is followed by the cost of living at 11 percent and jobs/economy at 9 percent.

Eleven percent of respondents cited other, unspecified problems as the most important ones currently facing Maine.

Of these three concerns, housing was most frequently cited by Democrats and independents, while Republicans most frequently highlighted the cost of living.

Jobs and the economy were mentioned most frequently by Republicans, but slightly less frequently than the cost of living.

Only three percent of Democrats mentioned the cost of living and only six percent mentioned jobs and the economy.

Independents also rarely mentioned jobs and the economic situation, but they were more similar to Republicans when it came to concerns about the cost of living.

Click here to read the full survey results