WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) – Few Americans would abandon their party’s candidate over controversies such as Democrat Graham Platner’s Nazi-linked tattoo in Maine or the fraud charge against Republican Ken Paxton in Texas, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll that highlights the deep partisan divisions that make an election victory crucial.
Two-thirds of party-aligned respondents said they sometimes need to vote for a candidate they don’t like just to stop the other party from coming to power, according to the survey conducted over six days and concluded on Monday.
That principle will be put to the test in Maine’s primary elections this Tuesday, when Democratic oyster farmer Platner hopes to become a candidate for a Senate seat considered crucial to Democrats’ hopes of winning a majority in that chamber in November.
In a national poll, just 17% of Democrats who know Platner said his Nazi-style tattoo of a skull and crossbones would prevent them from voting for him if they could vote in the Maine election.
The same percentage of Republicans across the country said they would abstain from voting for Texas Attorney General Paxton, who was indicted a decade ago on charges of defrauding investors, if they could vote in the state Senate election in November.
Either election could help determine which party controls the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority. Platner and Paxton’s campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.
Continues after advertising
The survey gathered responses from 4,531 U.S. adults nationwide, including 546 Democrats familiar with Platner and 712 Republicans familiar with Paxton. It had a margin of error of 2 percentage points for respondents overall and 4 points for Republicans and Democrats familiar with the two candidates.
Lesser of two evils
About 76% of respondents, including similar proportions of Democrats and Republicans, said they often had to vote for the lesser of two evils in U.S. elections.
Platner apologized for the tattoo on his chest, which he said he got while drinking with fellow Marines nearly two decades ago. He said he did not know the tattoo design was associated with the Nazis and covered it with another tattoo last year after launching his campaign.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted amid increasing scrutiny of Platner, including reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with women while married. Platner publicly apologized for the text messages, while calling reports about them and other past behavior politically motivated.
Despite the controversies, Platner is seen as a strong candidate to defeat Republican Senator Susan Collins. Platner has campaigned on a populist message that Maine has become unaffordable for the working class, and has won support from key allies including Chuck Schumer, a moderate and the top Democrat in the Senate, and Bernie Sanders, a progressive independent senator who is part of the Democratic caucus.
Platner’s rise reflects increased political polarization in the United States, with voters feeling they “just need to focus on not putting the other side in power,” said Mia Costa, a Dartmouth College political scientist who studies political psychology and partisanship.
Continues after advertising
Although Paxton triumphed in the state primary after receiving support from President Donald Trump, he will face a tough opponent in the general election: Democrat James Talarico.
Following his indictment, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House, and last year his wife filed for divorce on biblical grounds. He has denied all charges and claims the allegations against him are politically motivated.
An unpredictable factor in the races in both Maine and Texas will be the power of independent voters. Six in ten respondents who described themselves as not affiliated with either party said their vote would likely reflect their support for the candidate on the ballot.
Continues after advertising
