Jackson ousts Collins in Maine Senate flip

Democrat Troy Jackson is projected to oust Sen. Susan Collins (R) in Maine, flipping the GOP seat for the first time in almost 50 years, according to Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).

Jackson’s win marks a stunning rise for the former state Senate president who ran unsuccessfully for governor this cycle. The Democrat notched 53 percent of the vote with 76 percent reported early Wednesday while Collins got nearly 46 percent of the vote.

He became Maine Democrats’ replacement Senate nominee after the progressive Graham Platner, who won this year’s primary, dropped out amid sexual misconduct allegations that overwhelmed his campaign.

DDHQ showed Jackson roughly 3 points ahead in polling averages the week before the election, rating the race one of just a handful of toss-up contests in the midterm fight for the Senate majority.

Collins, a rare Republican to win statewide in blue-leaning Maine, was trying for a sixth term that could have made her the longest-serving senator in Maine history.

When she first ran for the office in 1996, Collins pledged she would only serve for two terms if elected to the Senate.

She was reelected in 2014 by nearly 40 points but notched another term by a comparatively narrow 9 points in 2020 after Democrats in the state were outraged by her vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Campaigning in a state that President Trump lost in the 2024 presidential election, Collins stressed along the trail that she’s often at odds with her party, from her pro-choice position to her vote against Trump’s signature “Big Beautiful Bill.”

“I don’t think that President Trump is going to come to Maine,” she said during one general election debate, when asked if she’d stand by Trump during a potential visit to the state. “I’ve heard nothing from his office, and I’m not exactly his favorite senator.”

She also highlighted her opposition to the tariffs on Canada, hailing America’s longtime ally to the north as a vital trading partner.

Jackson, on the other hand, argued that Collins has largely sided with the commander-in-chief and would offer more of the status quo as high prices plague Mainers.

Jackson’s ascension to the Senate will be the first time a Democrat has held the seat since the 1970s.