With just nine days to go until Election Day, Democrats and Republicans have apparently determined that independent former Gov. Angus King is going to win the Senate race in Maine, and both national parties are going dark in the state.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will stop running ads on Tuesday, pulling its resources out of the state and “allowing Democrats to redirect resources to Indiana and other states,” according to a Democratic official.
On Thursday, Politico reported that the National Republican Senatorial Committee had gone dark statewide on October 16.
The DSCC was running ads attacking Republican Charlie Summers. They have not endorsed the Democratic nominee, Cynthia Dill, and the move was seen as a tacit expression of support for King, who is expected to caucus with Democrats if elected.
Two polls from September showed King’s once insurmountable lead diminishing, giving Republicans hope that Summers could squeak out a win if Dill and King split the vote. But the latest poll, also from September, shows King with 50 percent of the vote, ahead of Summers by 26 percentage points.
The fact that the DSCC and the NRSC are both going dark suggests that their internal polling shows King’s victory as almost certain, and that their resources are better used elsewhere.
“As you know, the NRSC has been dark in Maine since Oct. 16th. It is pretty clear that they have completely given up on Charlie Summers,” said DSCC Communications Director Matt Canter.
