With a recent poll showing voters favoring incumbent Democrat Tom Allen over Republican Steve Joyce by nearly 40 percent in the 1st Congressional District race, it’s easy to understand the different approaches the candidates are taking over the last few days of the campaign.

Joyce is wrapping up a whirlwind, six-day tour of the district’s six counties, while Allen is staying close to his home in Portland, catching some high school football games and chatting with people on Main streets.

Joyce spokesman Charles Mahaleris said Friday that Joyce’s “Washington, Maine, to Washington, D.C.” tour of the district ends Saturday. On Friday, Joyce was in Lincoln County and was planning to appear in Kennebec County on Saturday.

On Halloween, Joyce used the historic Eastern Cemetery in Portland as a backdrop for an “unmasking Tom Allen” event, Mahaleris said, with a dozen costume-clad supporters standing by.

The media describes Allen as “a moderate, thoughtful leader,” Mahaleris said, yet the Joyce campaign feels the incumbent has gotten a pass on accomplishing little in Congress “because he’s a nice guy.”

On Sunday, Joyce will take part in a shooting event in Durham, to highlight the candidate’s commitment to protecting gun ownership rights. A National Rifle Association representative will attend, and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine also has been invited, Mahaleris said.

Jackie Potter, Allen’s chief of staff, said the congressman planned to mingle with attendees at sporting events Friday night and Saturday.

“He’s going to do a lot of sporting events, football games,” where a relaxed, fun atmosphere is expected, Potter said.

Friday was spent in Biddeford, she said, with Allen walking Main Street, speaking at a radio station, and having lunch with a school superintendent.

On Saturday he will participate in a bus tour with Chellie Pingree, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat, and John Baldacci, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Potter said.

On Monday, Allen will do some fund raising in Portland, she said.

Election night will find Allen in the upstairs rooms of Bull Feeney’s, a pub on Fore Street in Portland, while Joyce will be at the Embassy Suite hotel near the Portland Jetport with the Sen. Susan Collins campaign.