Maine Senate: Susan Collins loses seat to Troy Jackson in Trump wave
The 30-year senator conceded on election night after leading early, marking the first time Maine voters have ousted a sitting senator since 1978.
By Oliver Bennett ·
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins lost her Maine Senate seat to Democrat Troy Jackson on Tuesday, ending a 30-year tenure. Collins conceded by phone to Jackson approximately an hour after a photographer left her hotel suite, at which point Portland's vote totals had erased her early lead. She finished the night trailing Jackson by about six points.
The defeat makes Collins the first Maine senator voted out of office since 1978. The loss occurred as part of a national trend where resentment toward President Donald Trump helped Democrats gain control of the Senate. Collins told The New York Times on Wednesday that she was caught up in what she called the Trump tsunami, noting that voters largely ignored her previous breaks with the president, including her vote to convict him in his second impeachment trial.
Collins' campaign had appeared stable late in the day. At 10:40 p.m., the senator was watching CNN in her suite at the Bangor Hilton Garden Inn with family members. At that moment, she led the statewide count by more than four points with 30% of votes reported. The shift began about 90 minutes earlier when results from Auburn, a key city, showed Jackson ahead by nearly five points, reversing an eight-point lead Collins held there in 2020.
Jackson, a former Allagash logger and Maine Senate president, secured the nomination in July after Democrat Graham Platner withdrew from the race following a sexual assault allegation. Jackson's campaign focused on Collins' voting record, claiming she aligned with Trump 96% of the time on votes where the president took a position. David Farmer, a senior adviser to Jackson, said the specific number mattered less than the binary choice it represented in a polarized Senate.
The race saw substantial spending from both parties. Republicans outspent Democrats $112.2 million to $85.9 million in advertising after Jackson became the nominee, according to AdImpact. Democrats used a super PAC called WinSenate to spend about $9 million on ads accusing Collins of getting rich in office, citing a ProPublica report about an FBI bribery investigation. Collins called those allegations false, and FBI leadership reportedly did not credit the donor's claims.
Collins attempted to appeal to both ends of the electorate during her final stretch. She held a rally in Gorham in September featuring Boston radio host Howie Carr and brought in former Sen. Joe Manchin to argue she was not a rubber stamp for Trump. Her campaign also visited the studio of conservative radio host Ray Richardson, posing with a prop known as the Sword of Truth. Richardson noted that the traditional Republican base in Maine was not coalescing, suggesting the coalition needed to win was different than any Collins had previously used.
Retired sportscaster Bill Green, who helped Collins win in 2020, starred in a final ad for her campaign. Green argued the race was not about buying a cord of wood, a line he wrote himself to suggest Jackson lacked relevant experience. Jackson turned that phrase into a central talking point, arguing that soaring heating costs made the election about the cost of living. He even dressed as a cord of wood at a Halloween event in Portland to emphasize the point.
Jackson raised $31 million in approximately 100 days and held more than 100 public events before the election. His campaign's internal surveys indicated that voters most strongly associated Collins with Trump, while Jackson was defined by perceptions of personal attacks. Green, reflecting on the loss, said he believed the election was all about Trump across the nation.
