Members of the press:

The latest Quinnipiac poll is an extreme outlier, especially when considering all recent public (and private) polls in this race.  

The most recent public poll in this race was released last week by AARP. 

1. The AARP poll last week had this as a ONE POINT race. That poll had Sara Gideon leading 48-47. Read more here: https://states.aarp.org/maine/2020-election-poll

2. The numbers with Independents show the biggest flaw with this poll.  Last week, the AARP poll had Senator Collins up 11 with Independents. This Quinnipiac poll has Senator Collins losing independents by 23 points, which has led to the outlier result.  In other words, this poll is suggesting that Susan Collins dropped 34 points with Independents in one week.

Members of the press: We wanted to make sure you saw the following statement from AARP distancing itself from yet another false ad from Sara Gideon’s allies.  

Gideon pulled funding for police and moved it to her nonprofit while on Freeport Town Council

Her defund vote and her vote to fund her own nonprofit with town money both attracted significant criticism at the time

We all know Sara Gideon stumbled during her first live, statewide debate last night, particularly when she couldn’t answer a question about whether she would have voted to confirm the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

One of the reasons Gideon was not prepared is because she refused to participate in nearly every debate during the primary. She has hidden behind millions of dollars of slick television marketing and invitation-only appearances where questions are pre-prepared.  So, when it came time to demonstrate her depth of knowledge… she couldn’t go outside the talking points prepared by her campaign manager, New York Senator Chuck Schumer.

This was many Mainers’ first chance to hear directly from Gideon … 

Her far left positions, her constantly untruthful campaign approach, and her bedrock principle of saying one thing and doing another, were all on display for a new audience.

Portland, ME -- Senator Susan Collins displayed her deep knowledge, mastery of issues, and her love for her home state of Maine at the first U.S. Senate debate tonight. In stark contrast, Sara Gideon repeated memorized talking points provided by the D.C. operatives running her campaign. She also continued her track record of saying one thing, but doing another.

When Gideon was asked a question that wasn’t covered during her DC prep sessions -- whether she’d support Chief Justice Roberts’ nomination -- she stumbled. Gideon couldn’t answer, despite making Supreme Court nominations the central focus of her campaign.

Gideon’s DC-run campaign goes international

Aug 12: TV ad about Gideon’s tax-dodging business airs

Aug 13: Gideon amends financial disclosure to reveal previously unreported outstanding 2008 loan related to failed condo development

TV interview shows Gideon doubling down on her false excuses for dodging Freeport taxes while raising taxes on Town Council

Members of the press, this is a truly momentous occasion. 

Speaker Sara Gideon, the person in charge of Maine’s House of Representatives, the person who made an April “personal pledge” to “immediately” help Maine’s small business dealing with the pandemic, has made her first and only move to bring relief to our business community.

That’s right - Speaker Gideon finally decided to honor her personal pledge. She really leaned into it, too.

Make sure you’re sitting down for this:

Speaker Gideon tweeted a link to apply for state economic aid provided by the federal government and Senator Collins’ COVID response!

Problem solved! Pledge fulfilled! Businesses have been saved, and jobs have been preserved!

 Of course, it doesn’t quite compare to Senator Collins writing and passing a law, the Paycheck Protection Program, that has supported more than 250,000 Maine jobs with about $2.3 billion in direct aid.

Here’s the reality: Gideon hasn’t lifted a finger to help Mainers since she adjourned the Legislature 171 days ago. The fact that this tweet is the only business assistance she has provided is a stunning failure of leadership.

Anti-police radical groups responsible for more than $6 million in funding to support Sara Gideon, and have staff on the ground in Maine right now

Gideon is “proud” to be endorsed by Defund the Police groups