A late Democratic nominee, Troy Jackson unseats Republican Senator Susan Collins in Maine
A consequential Maine result
Collins, the last Republican senator from New England, lost to Jackson after Republicans treated her as their best chance to keep the seat. Maine is more reliably blue, and Collins was the only Republican incumbent running this year in a state that was neither a presidential battleground nor reliably Republican.
The outcome gave Democrats a long-sought win against a senator who had weathered national political shifts and hostile waves. Their route to a Senate majority ran through Maine.
Democrats’ unsettled nomination
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee backed Gov. Janet Mills months before the primary, although progressive oyster farmer and Marine veteran Graham Platner had entered the race first. Platner’s campaign pushed Mills out before the primary in a cycle marked by voter interest in outsiders.
After the primary, Platner faced a sexual-assault allegation, which he denied, and later withdrew. Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, quickly took his place as the nominee. He had run for governor earlier that year as a progressive aligned with Bernie Sanders.
A short campaign against Collins
Jackson had roughly 100 days from becoming the Democratic standard-bearer to Election Day. With limited time, Maine Democrats focused on Collins’ record as a Republican during both Trump presidencies rather than making the campaign primarily about Jackson.
Collins had been among the country’s most vulnerable Republican incumbents on paper, but Democrats’ handling of the race gave the experienced campaigner opportunities. In 2020, Democrats had also believed they could defeat her, while the results showed polls had significantly underestimated her.
Collins and Trump’s record
Collins was among the few congressional Republicans who voted to convict Trump after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Despite that vote, Republicans viewed her as their strongest, and perhaps only, prospect for holding the Maine seat.
Trump’s second term helped bring Collins’ Senate career to an end, according to the account of the race. Her defeat came after years in which she had overcome difficult political conditions.
Key points
- Troy Jackson defeated five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins in Maine.
- The result gave Democrats a major win in a state central to their path toward a Senate majority.
- Jackson became the Democratic nominee about 100 days before Election Day.
- Republicans had regarded Collins as their strongest chance to retain the Maine seat.