WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Democrat Troy Jackson defeated Republican Sen. Susan Collins with 52.7% of the vote to Collins’ 47.2%.
  • Collins, 73, will leave Congress after nearly 30 years in the Senate.
  • Jackson replaced original Democratic nominee Graham Platner after Platner withdrew from the race on July 10.
  • Nearly $200 million was spent on campaign advertising, making Maine’s contest the most expensive per capita.

Democrat Troy Jackson defeated longtime Sen. Susan Collins in Maine’s midterm Senate election Tuesday, ending the Republican incumbent’s nearly 30-year run in the upper chamber. The result delivered Democrats a critical victory in one of the cycle’s most closely watched Senate contests.

Jackson had 52.7% of the vote, while Collins stood at 47.2%, with about two-thirds of ballots tallied. The defeat dealt another blow to Republicans fighting to preserve their slim Senate majority.

The outcome completed a remarkable political turnaround for Jackson, who finished third in Maine’s Democratic primary for governor. He entered the Senate contest only after the campaign of original Democratic nominee Graham Platner imploded.

Collins, 73, will leave Congress as the longest-serving female Republican senator in history. She was also the last remaining congressional Republican from New England.

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Collins called representing Maine in the Senate the honor of her life as she reflected on her lengthy career in Congress.

“It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Maine in the United States Senate. I’m proud of all I have been able to accomplish for our state and for our country in the past 30 years,” Collins said.

Collins had repeatedly pulled off upset victories in a state that has never supported President Trump in a presidential election. During this campaign, she emphasized her willingness to defy Trump, her Senate experience and her record of bipartisanship.

Trump’s presence loomed over the contest in the Pine Tree State. During her first debate against Jackson, Collins described herself as “not exactly [Trump’s] favorite senator” and discouraged the president from campaigning for her in Maine.

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Collins also distanced herself from several Trump policies while campaigning. Those included the war in Iran, the trade war with Canada, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Jackson argued that Collins had still enabled Trump’s agenda through her votes, including her 2018 support for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. That confirmation vote became a central focus of Democratic attack advertisements against the pro-choice incumbent.

Kavanaugh joined the majority of justices in the landmark 2022 case that overturned Roe v. Wade. Democrats used Collins’ support for his confirmation to press their case against her throughout the campaign.

Jackson, a fifth-generation logger, former Republican, and former state Senate president, replaced Platner on the ballot in July. Platner withdrew from the race on July 10 after Jenny Racicot, a woman he previously dated, publicly alleged that he drunkenly raped her at her Maine home in 2021.

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Platner’s withdrawal triggered a scramble by the Maine Democratic Party to select a replacement. By July 25, the vast majority of state party delegates had rallied behind Jackson, despite his third place finish in the Democratic gubernatorial primary only months earlier.

Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were among the left-wing lawmakers who endorsed Jackson against Collins. Collins countered by bringing former Sen. Joe Manchin onto the campaign trail during the final weeks of the race.

Manchin, a Democrat who became an independent, praised the five term Republican as “the soul of the Senate.” That support was not enough to prevent Collins from losing a contest that drew extraordinary campaign spending.

Nearly $200 million was spent on campaign advertisements in Maine, making the race the nation’s most expensive per capita, according to an Axios analysis of AdImpact data. Republicans spent an estimated $96.99 per voting age resident, compared with $69.52 for Democrats.

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