A new poll finds that only one in 10 Mainers like Gov. Janet Mills’ new slogan for the state, “Welcome Home.”
“Critical Insights on Maine,” a semi-annual tracking poll, tested several slogans used throughout the years to promote the state, according to a June 6 news release.
The slogans include:
• The way life should be
• Vacationland
• Welcome home
• Worth a visit, worth a lifetime
▪ Discover your Maine thing
▪ Open for business
The poll found “The way life should be” garnered the most votes, with 47% of Mainers preferring it.
One of Mills’s first actions upon being sworn in was to install the new “Welcome Home” slogan on road signs at the state’s southern border.
In the nationwide version of the poll, 27% of Americans preferred “Discover Your Maine Thing,” followed by “Worth a Visit, Worth a Lifetime” (18%) and “The Way Life Should Be” (16%).
The poll also showed that Mills might be adding a jolt of optimism to Maine’s electorate.
Mainers are now more likely to feel the state is headed in the right direction (34%) compared to last fall (when 25% felt the state was headed in the right direction).
Most voters who believe the state is headed in the right direction attribute that sentiment to Mills’s election (60%).
The spring 2019 Critical Insights on Maine tracking poll was conducted between March 16 and April 1. It included 612 completed surveys of registered voters (half surveyed by phone; half surveyed online). Critical Insights, a division of Digital Research Inc., is a marketing research firm.
The Maine Turnpike Authority installed the new “Welcome Home” sign, on the Maine state border near the Kittery line, in February. In her inaugural address, Mills announced she would install the new sign in an effort to welcome all people, including the young, immigrants, entrepreneurs, business owners, innovators and new employers to the state.