KING’S STRENGTHS
In the U.S. Senate race, four in 10 voters described themselves as independents, and two-thirds of them backed fellow independent Angus King, the winner over Republican Secretary of State Charlie Summers and Democratic state Sen. Cynthia Dill.
King, of Brunswick, is a former governor who also picked up two-thirds of the Democrats and more than a fifth of the Republicans.
Democrats held a slim edge in the U.S. Senate going into Tuesday’s elections, and Maine voters who want to keep it that way outnumbered those who want Republicans in charge. King won threequarters of those who want Democrats to control the Senate, along with a quarter of those who want Republicans in charge.
College graduates made up half the electorate, and close to six in 10 of them favored King, who also drew strong support from voters whose annual family income was over $100,000.
WOMEN BOOST QUESTION 1
More women voted than men in Maine, and they strongly supported the winning ballot question asking voters to approve gay marriage.
Voters under age 30 backed gay marriage by more than 2- 1, and the question had the support of 6 in 10 voters ages 30-44 as well. The strongest opposition to the question came from voters age 65 and older.
Voters who are married themselves split on whether to legalize gay marriage, while nearly two-thirds of single voters voted for it.
Eight in 10 Democrats voted yes, and an equally large percentage of Republicans voted no. Six in 10 of the independents, who outnumbered voters aligned with either party, voted yes.
ECONOMY: BETTER?
Though roughly eight in 10 Maine voters characterized the U.S. economy as not so good or poor, they split nearly evenly on whether it is getting better, worse or staying the same. Voters said President Barack Obama would handle the economy better than Republican Mitt Romney, and Obama had a slight edge among the more than half of voters who said the economy was the most important issue facing the nation. Obama also was stronger among the roughly 20 percent of voters who said health care was the most important, while voters who cited the federal deficit broke for Romney.
PRICED OUT
Asked about a range of economic troubles, four in 10 said the biggest problem facing people like them is rising prices. That was more than the percentage who answered unemployment or taxes and far more than said the housing market. Romney was about even with Obama among those who cited taxes, but Obama won the other groups.
About four in 10 voters said their family’s financial situation has worsened in the last few years, with a similar percentage saying it has stayed the same. Romney won among those who said they are worse off, but Obama was backed by those who financial situation had stayed the same or improved.
THE VISION THING
About three in 10 said choosing someone with a vision for the future was a key factor in their vote for president, with a similar number saying that voting for someone who shares their values was the most important. Smaller percentages — about 1 in 5 — prioritized picking a strong leader or someone who cares about people like them.
About 6 in 10 said they strongly favored the candidate they ultimately picked. Obama picked up most of those voters, but was also slightly ahead of Romney among those who said dislike for the other candidate motivated their vote.
NO ‘UNDECIDEDS’
Eight in 10 voters said they made up their minds about a presidential candidate before October. More than one in 10 decided in the last few days.
The exit poll of 2,275 voters was conducted for AP and the television networks by Edison Research in a random sample of 35 precincts statewide. Results were subject to sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points; it is higher for subgroups.
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