Collins is ahead in Maine. Barely.

PORTLAND — Senator Susan Collins has her first lead in an independent poll since Troy Jackson became the Democratic nominee in July. A survey by The New York Times, the Portland Press Herald, and Siena, taken September 15 to 22 among 619 registered voters, puts Collins at 49 percent and Jackson at 46. The margin of error is about five points. In June she trailed Graham Platner, then the Democratic name, 49 to 47.

The same voters are not in love with the president. A majority strongly disapproves of Donald Trump, and 55 percent want Democrats to control the Senate. Only 6 percent said control of Congress was the most important issue in their vote. The economy was named by 21 percent, inflation and the cost of living by 12, health care by 7. Jackson is nine points behind the generic Democratic ballot.

They want Democrats in charge of the Senate. They also want Collins back.

Undecided voters rose from 3 percent in June to 5 percent. The States desk files Maine because it is the Senate race that moved on Thursday’s Times politics page, not because the map is settled.