Democrat Troy Jackson unseats Susan Collins in Maine Senate race

Democrat Troy Jackson has defeated five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, delivering a closely watched Senate pickup for his party and ending Collins’ nearly three decades in Washington.

Jackson, 58, entered the race after Maine Democrats’ first nominee, Graham Platner, withdrew following an allegation of sexual assault, which he denied, according to The Guardian. Democrats selected Jackson as their nominee in July. The Guardian reported that the party had only weeks to organize a special convention to replace Platner; after Jackson won the nomination, he had 101 days to mount a Senate campaign.

The result removes a Republican incumbent who had repeatedly survived difficult races in a state that voted for Kamala Harris in 2024. Collins, 73, had served in the Senate since 1997. She was the only Republican incumbent seeking reelection this year in a state won by the Democratic presidential nominee two years earlier, according to CBS News.

Jackson, a fifth-generation logger and former president of the Maine state Senate, presented himself as a champion of working-class voters. He had lost a bid for governor earlier this year. In the Senate race, he challenged Collins’ reputation as a moderate willing to break with President Donald Trump, arguing that she had not opposed him strongly enough.

Jackson focused in particular on Collins’ vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He argued that the vote helped pave the way for the court’s 2022 decision overturning the federal right to an abortion. Collins countered that Jackson lacked the experience and effectiveness to deliver for Maine. She emphasized the influence she had built during five terms in the Senate; as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she pointed to millions of federal dollars she had helped direct to the state, The Guardian reported.

The candidates also clashed over living costs. The Guardian reported that soaring fuel costs tied to the war with Iran, including record-high heating oil prices, squeezed Maine voters as temperatures fell before the election. The newspaper also reported that the Trump administration’s tariffs had affected several of the state’s key industries. CBS News reported that the war and persistently high gas and diesel prices had widened the Senate map for Democrats, putting some Republican-leaning states in play.

The campaign was often rancorous. The Guardian described mutual accusations of corruption, while Collins sought to link Jackson to Platner’s progressive politics. The two had campaigned together during Jackson’s unsuccessful gubernatorial bid earlier in the year, the newspaper reported.

For Democrats, defeating Collins secures a seat they had sought for decades. For Republicans, the loss complicates their effort to retain their Senate majority.