BANGOR – A new sampling of likely voters in Maine’s two congressional races suggests one contest is close – and getting closer – while the other is not close – at least not yet.

The poll, conducted for a media partnership including the Bangor Daily News, suggests the gap is closing in the already tight race in Maine’s northern 2nd Congressional District between Democrat Mike Michaud and Republican Kevin Raye.

In the survey of 311 likely voters in the district, 31 percent said they would vote for Michaud, the Maine Senate president pro tem, if the election were held today. Raye, the longtime former aide to U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, won 27 percent of likely voters, with 37 percent still undecided.

The difference between the two candidates was well within the poll’s 5.7 percent margin of error.

The RKM Research poll was conducted from Sept. 7 to 10 for a partnership among WLBZ 2 Bangor, WCSH 6 Portland, the Bangor Daily News and Maine Public Broadcasting.

Michaud aides stress the new survey reinforces their earlier polls, which put the veteran East Millinocket lawmaker on top by as much as 11 percentage points.

“We’re ahead and we’re doing everything we need to do, but taking nothing for granted,” said Michaud press secretary Monica Castellanos. “We’re meeting with the voters, talking about their issues, and the response is good.”

But the new numbers, which put Raye within just 4 points of Michaud with less than eight weeks to go before the election, suggest Raye could be making up ground.

And in an unusual show of support, the Republican fared better among women, 32 percent of whom said they would support the Perry resident over Michaud, who received support from 26 percent of likely women voters.

“This clearly shows that Kevin is the one with the momentum,” said Raye’s campaign manager Kathie Summers. “The fact is, the district has traditionally elected pro-gun, pro-choice candidates, and that’s Kevin.”

Both Michaud and Raye have the National Rifle Association’s top rating. On the abortion issue, Michaud is pro-life, although he says he wouldn’t support a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Raye is pro-choice.

Michaud bested Raye 47 percent to 10 percent among Democrats, and 27 percent to 21 percent among independent voters. Among Republican voters, Raye topped Michaud 52 percent to 17 percent, according to the poll.

Meanwhile, in Maine’s southern 1st District, incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Allen held a 55 percent to 17 percent lead over Republican challenger former state Rep. Steven Joyce, according to the poll, which surveyed 212 likely voters in that district.

Nineteen percent were undecided, and 9 percent said they would support another choice, although there are no other declared candidates for the seat.

The poll had a margin of error of 6.7 percent

Of the independents surveyed, half said they would vote for Allen, while 9.4 percent said they would vote for Joyce. Allen polled well among Republicans, with 31.4 percent saying they would choose him over Joyce. Joyce garnered the support of 35.2 percent of likely Republican voters.

Contacted on Friday, both camps downplayed the significance of the poll, citing the low sample.

“It’s not what I’m seeing out there,” Joyce said of the results. “We’re out there meeting with 300, 400, 500 people a day, and there’s no love affair with Tom Allen.”

“They see Tom as part of the problem,” Joyce continued. “Tom’s out there traipsing around the world, touting his liberal extremist environmental positions,” he said, referring to Allen’s recent appearance at the global climate summit in South Africa.

Jackie Potter, Allen’s chief of staff, conceded that the poll results were “a good thing,” despite what she called the small sample size. “It’s reassuring,” she said, “but the reality is, the election is two months away.”

NEWS reporter Tom Groening contributed to this report.