����ֱ��

Brian Duff, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Political Science, was interviewed on Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) on October 10, 2014, about his thoughts on Maine's gubernatorial election in light of a recent poll that shows Republican Governor Paul LePage and Democratic Representative Mike Michaud continuing to run closely together with Eliot Cutler in a distant third-place position.

According to the interview, Cutler's has asserted that although he is currently lagging behind, he is ahead of where he was in the polls the last time he ran for governor of Maine four years ago, when he experienced a big uptick in support toward the end of the campaign.

Duff did not agree that this past late-campaign boost would be repeated. “The difference between now and four years ago is the difference between the candidates,” he explained, noting that in the previous election, Democrat Libby Mitchell did not run a particularly energetic campaign, which “opened the door for Cutler.”

“It just doesn't look like it's going to happen that way this year,” Duff said, explaining that “this year, it's not set up for where the Democratic candidate collapses and Cutler surges.”

Duff did, however, state that Cutler could garner enough support to destroy Michaud's chance of winning. “There is a real chance that he [Cutler] is going to play spoiler in this race,” Duff said.