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Nov 3, 2026 · ranked-choice voting

Maine - United States Senate

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Troy Jackson
Troy Jackson
Democrat · Age 58

Fifth-generation logger from Allagash and former Maine Senate President — the state's best-known labor Democrat.

Campaign website →
Susan Collins
Susan Collins
Republican · Age 73

U.S. senator since 1997, seeking a sixth term. Chairs the committee that controls federal spending.

Campaign website →
Who's ahead? CookTOSS-UPSabatoTOSS-UPDDHQTOSS-UP
Ratings: Cook Political Report (Oct 6), Sabato’s Crystal Ball (Aug 26), Decision Desk HQ (Aug 5). Source →
Collins
49
Jackson
46
New York Times / Siena / Portland Press Herald, Sept 15–22, 619 voters, ±4.9. CNN (Aug 31–Sept 6) had Jackson up 48–45 → Sept 15–22

Where they stand

Tap a topic that's important to you.

JACKSON SAYS
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COLLINS SAYS
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Money & campaign finance

Where each candidate stands on campaign-finance questions.

JACKSON
COLLINS
Yes Ban Congress from trading stocks Not stated
No Takes corporate PAC money Not stated

Sources: Jackson, Portland Press Herald voter guide

Fundraising
RAISEDCASH ON HANDUNDER-$200 DONORS
Susan Collins
$16.2M$11M9% of receipts

Troy Jackson replaced Graham Platner as the nominee on July 25 and has no FEC report in this data yet. Campaign committee totals for the 2025–26 cycle, through June 30, 2026. Under-$200 share is unitemized individual contributions divided by total receipts. FEC filings →

Their big promises

JACKSON'S TOP 3
Take on billionaires & corruption
Overturn Citizens United, ban congressional stock trading, tax wealth over $1 billion.
Health care for all
Medicare for All, plus rescue funding for Maine's rural hospitals.
Housing & wages
Affordable homes for working Mainers; stronger unions for better pay.
COLLINS'S TOP 3
Seniority that delivers
As spending-committee chair, steer federal money to Maine's hospitals, shipyards, and towns.
Bipartisan problem-solving
A record of working across the aisle — including breaking with her party on the Iran war.
Lowering costs
Extend health-insurance subsidies with limits; heating help; end shutdown standoffs.

Agree or differ?

Ban the sale of assault-style weapons
Jackson: supports a ban · Collins: voted against a ban and magazine limits in 2013, hasn't reversed
DIFFER
Expand background checks & red-flag funding
Collins voted for the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act · Jackson backs similar measures
AGREE
Continued U.S. military aid to Ukraine
Collins has pushed for Ukraine aid from Appropriations · Jackson backs continued support
AGREE
Dismantle ICE
Jackson: yes, calls for ending "the mass deportation machine" · Collins: opposes
DIFFER
A minimum tax on billionaires
Jackson: yes, a wealth-tax floor · Collins: opposes new wealth taxes
DIFFER
Federal support for Maine's working waterfront
Both support it
AGREE

Their stories

TROY JACKSON
1998Led a blockade at the Canadian border for Maine loggers — his start in politics.
2002Elected to the Legislature; later won collective-bargaining rights for forestry workers.
2018Became President of the Maine Senate, the state's leading labor Democrat.
2026Chosen as the Democratic nominee to replace Graham Platner and take on Collins.
SUSAN COLLINS
1996First elected to the Senate from Caribou, northern Maine.
2020Won a fifth term by 9 points, defying every public poll.
2025Became chair of the Appropriations Committee; has never missed a roll-call vote.
2026Cast the first GOP vote to require congressional approval for the Iran war.

The backstory

Republican Sen. Susan Collins is seeking a sixth term. She is the only Republican senator from a state Donald Trump never won in any of his three presidential campaigns, which puts this race among the most competitive in the country. Democrats haven’t won a Senate race in Maine since 1988.

The Democratic nominee changed in the summer. Harbor master Graham Platner beat Gov. Janet Mills in the June 9 primary, then withdrew on July 10 after sexual assault accusations and other controversies. A party convention on July 25 chose Troy Jackson, the former Maine Senate president, who had finished third in the Democratic primary for governor.

September polls show a dead heat, with each candidate leading in some surveys and neither by more than a few points. Maine uses ranked-choice voting, so if no one wins a majority, second choices are counted.

Sources

  1. Troy Jackson for Maine · campaign website
  2. Susan Collins · campaign website
  3. 2026 United States Senate election in Maine · Wikipedia (primary, convention, ratings)
  4. Still no space between Collins and Jackson, CNN poll finds · Portland Press Herald, Sept 9, 2026
  5. Jackson holds narrow lead over Collins in new poll · WABI / WMTW, Sept 25, 2026
  6. Maine’s Senate race is tied · Political Wire (InsiderAdvantage poll), Sept 26, 2026
  7. Federal Election Commission · candidate fundraising summaries
Positions summarized from campaign websites, voting records, and news reports (July 2026) · race data updated September 2026
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