Democrat Troy Jackson defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine on Tuesday, ending the veteran Republican’s decades-long tenure in Washington and handing Democrats a Senate seat they had fought for cycle after cycle.
Jackson’s victory displaces former Vice President Kamala Harris, the state’s only Republican senator seeking re-election in 2024, providing critical support for Democrats to expand control of the upper chamber.
Shortly after midnight Eastern time, Collins called Jackson to relent. As of 12:30 p.m., Jackson led by seven points, with 70 percent of the votes counted.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Maine in the U.S. Senate. I am proud of what I have accomplished over the past 30 years for our state and nation,” Collins said. “I called Troy Jackson tonight to congratulate him and assure him that my staff and I will work hard to ensure a smooth transition.”
Collins first won her Senate seat in 1996 and built her political career on a reputation as a moderate Republican who could win over voters across party lines. But her bid for a fifth term has turned into a referendum on her relationship with President Donald Trump and the national Republican Party, as Democrats argue her record of occasionally breaking with the party is no longer enough to satisfy Maine voters.
Jackson, a former president of the Maine Senate and a longtime Labor-backed politician, campaigned on economic issues and relations with the working class. A logger from Allagash in northern Maine, he painted Collins as a longtime Washington insider whose promises of bipartisanship did little to solve voters’ problems.
“For nearly 30 years, Susan Collins has been telling Maines she was ‘worried,'” Jackson explain before he was named the official Maine Democratic candidate for Senate. “But worry isn’t going to lower the cost of groceries and gas. Maine doesn’t need to worry for another six years.”
The race is one of the most important Senate contests of the midterm elections. Republicans entered the night with a 53-47 majority, and Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to take control of the House. Collins’ defeat provides critical support to Democrats as they seek to constrain the Trump administration in its final two years.
The results also marked a significant shift for the Democratic campaign, which was in disarray after original nominee Graham Platner dropped out of the race in July. Plattner won the Democratic primary but faced a series of escalating controversies, including a Nazi tattoo he later covered up, resurfaced online comments about veterans and sending sexually explicit messages to multiple women. The final straw came when he faced sexual assault charges that he denied.
Plattner’s departure forced Democratic officials to choose Jackson as the party’s successor, a race that national Democrats view as critical to their Senate ambitions.
Despite the turmoil, Jackson remained competitive in the final weeks of the campaign. one CNN/SSRS Poll The poll, conducted Oct. 20-26, found Jackson leading Collins 49 percent to 45 percent among 783 likely voters. one Marist University Poll The election, held from October 22 to 25, showed Jackson leading 49% to 47%; Beacon Research/Shaw and Company Research Survey The poll, conducted from October 16 to 20, showed the candidate’s approval rating at 49%.
The movement unfolds against a broader political backdrop of dissatisfaction with the government and concerns about family finances. In Marist’s October survey, 58% of likely voters disapproved of Trump’s job performance, while 46% said their personal finances were worse than the year before.
Jackson’s victory gives the Democratic Party a new senator whose politics are rooted in socialist-tinged labor organizing and “economic populism” rather than the centrist approach Collins has adopted throughout her career. He has aligned himself with figures on the far left, including Vermont Gov. Bernie Sanders, who supported Jackson’s Senate campaign and failed gubernatorial bid earlier this year.
For Democrats, Jackson’s victory provides a clear path to reshaping the balance of power in the Senate, which remains up for grabs as of this article’s publication.