By Jason Lange and Nolan D. McCaskill
WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - Few Americans would abandon their party's candidate over controversies such as Democrat Graham Platner's Nazi-linked tattoo in Maine or Republican Ken Paxton's fraud indictment in Texas, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, highlighting deep partisan divides that make winning paramount.
Two-thirds of party-aligned respondents said they sometimes have to vote for a candidate they don't like just to stop the other party from winning power, according to the six-day poll completed on Monday.
That principle will be put to the test in a Maine primary election on Tuesday, when Democratic oyster farmer Platner hopes to become a candidate for a Senate seat seen as crucial to Democrats' hopes of winning a majority in that chamber in November.
In a nationwide poll, just 17% of Democrats familiar with Platner said his tattoo of a Nazi-style skull-and-crossbones would stop them from voting for him if they could vote in Maine's election.
The same share of Republicans nationwide said they would refrain from voting for Texas Attorney General Paxton, who was indicted a decade ago on charges of defrauding investors, if they could vote in the state's Senate election in November.
Either election could help determine which party controls the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority. Campaigns for Platner and Paxton did not respond to requests for comment.
The poll gathered responses from 4,531 U.S. adults nationwide, including 546 Democrats familiar with Platner and 712 Republicans familiar with Paxton. It had a margin of error of 2 percentage points for respondents overall and 4 points for Republicans and Democrats familiar with the two candidates.
LESSER OF TWO EVILS
Some 76% of poll respondents, including similar shares of Democrats and Republicans, said they often had to vote for the lesser of two evils in U.S. elections.
Platner has apologized for the chest tattoo, which he says he got while drinking with fellow Marines nearly two decades ago. He said he was unaware the tattoo's design was associated with Nazis and covered it with another tattoo last year after he launched his campaign.
The Reuters/Ipsos survey was conducted as further scrutiny fell on Platner, including reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with women while he was married. Platner has apologized publicly for the text messages, while calling reports about them and other past behavior politically motivated.
Despite the controversies, Platner is seen as a strong contender to oust Republican Senator Susan Collins. Platner has campaigned with a populist message that Maine has become unaffordable for working-class people, and he has won endorsements from heavyweight allies including Chuck Schumer, a moderate and the top Democrat in the Senate, and Bernie Sanders, a progressive independent U.S. senator who caucuses with Democrats.
Platner's rise reflects increased political polarization in America, with voters feeling they "just have to focus on not putting the other side in power," said Mia Costa, a Dartmouth College political scientist who studies political psychology and partisanship.
While Paxton triumphed in the state's primary election after winning President Donald Trump's endorsement, he will face a tough general election opponent in Democrat James Talarico.
After his indictment, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House, and last year his wife filed for divorce on biblical grounds. He has denied all wrongdoing and says the allegations against him are politically motivated.
INDEPENDENT FACTOR
A wildcard in both the Maine and Texas races will be the power of independent voters. Six in 10 poll respondents who described themselves as unaffiliated with either party said their vote was more likely to reflect their support of the candidate on the ballot.
“The more 'normie' candidate, as some people call them, will be trying to prevail among independents by pointing to the flaws of the candidate with issues,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University.
Talarico's campaign on Monday touted the Democrat winning the endorsement of Dan Cogdell, Paxton's former defense lawyer.
Some Democrats - including U.S. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia - say Platner has followed in the footsteps of Trump, who also overcame controversy during his political ascent.
"Trump set a new standard," Warner said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "Whether that low standard is what we ought to proceed with, I think it's going to be again in the hands of the voters."
(Reporting by Jason Lange and Nolan McCaskill in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman)
