Democrat Troy Jackson has defeated five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins, ending her nearly 30-year Senate career and flipping Maine’s seat as Democrats pad their midterm majority.
What happened
NBC News, CBS News and the Associated Press project that Democrat Troy Jackson beat Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine’s U.S. Senate race on Election Night. Maine Public reported that AP called the contest at 1:02 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 4, with Jackson ahead by about seven points and roughly three-quarters of precincts counted.
Unofficial tallies showed Jackson at about 53.8% and Collins at about 46.1%. Collins conceded before the AP call, according to Maine Public and local station WGME.
On X early Wednesday, @TheDemocrats posted: “DEM FLIP: Maine Democrat Troy Jackson has defeated incumbent Republican Susan Collins in the race for U.S. Senate, flipping this seat blue. Congratulations, Senator-elect Jackson!”
Key facts
- Collins has served in the Senate since 1997 and was seeking a sixth term.
- Jackson is a fifth-generation logger from Allagash and a former Maine Senate president.
- He became the Democratic nominee in late July after Graham Platner left the race amid a sexual assault allegation, which Platner denied.
- Jackson will be the first Democrat to hold the seat since 1995, according to NPR.
What each side said
Jackson cast the race as a working-class fight and tied Collins to President Donald Trump. At a debate quoted by NBC News, he said, “Sen. Collins votes with Trump 96% of the time. The billionaire class is who she’s been fighting for.” Collins has challenged that percentage.
In victory remarks early Wednesday, Jackson told supporters, according to Maine Public: “There was a lot of anger about what’s going on in this country. I felt that anger, too. But there was also so much joy … joy because we know this government is broken and the only ones who are going to fix it is us.”
Collins stressed her seniority and federal funding for Maine. In debate remarks reported by NBC News, she said she had secured $1.5 billion for 672 projects statewide over five years and that Senate effectiveness needs “knowledge, experience, seniority and relationships.” She has described herself as independent of Trump, telling NBC she opposed him when she thought he was wrong and supported him when she thought he was right.
In her concession statement, Collins said: “It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Maine in the United States Senate.” She said she called Jackson to congratulate him and pledged a smooth transition, Maine Public and WGME reported.
Why it matters
Maine was one of Democrats’ clearest Senate pickup targets: Collins was the only Republican senator seeking reelection in a state Trump lost in 2024. Her defeat adds another Republican-held seat to the Democratic Senate majority projected overnight and closes a nearly three-decade chapter for one of the chamber’s best-known moderates.
Sources: NBC News · CBS News · Maine Public · WGME · NPR · AP News · @TheDemocrats on X
