Democrat Troy Jackson has defeated longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins in Maine, unseating the famous moderate senator in a race marked by controversy.
Jackson entered the race after replacing Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee who withdrew following a series of scandals.
First elected in 1996, Collins was the only Republican senator representing a state that has consistently voted Democratic in presidential elections since 1992.
She has cultivated a reputation as a moderate and sought to distance herself from President Donald Trump during her campaign. Jackson, a former logger, campaigned on workers’ rights and accused Collins of yielding to pressure from the president.
Collins and Jackson went head to head during state debates, with Jackson making national headlines when he told the 73-year-old to “shut up”.
He entered the campaign late in the season, after Planter withdrew following a series of controversies, including allegations of sexual assault. Platner has denied the allegations.
Jackson had failed to win the Democratic gubernatorial primary, but won the senate nomination in a special convention. He positioned himself as a working-class candidate and backed progressive policies like abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
His victory over Collins allows Democrats an even larger majority in the US Senate, after wins in several key states – including Texas and South Carolina – gave them control of the chamber.
Democrats also won control of the US House of Representatives, meaning they will control all of the US Congress for the last two years of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Collins at times walked a tight rope with Trump. A moderate Republican, in a state that historically supported Democrats, she often criticised his policies.
She was viewed by many as a possible “swing vote” during controversial legislation, who could tip the scales either way.
She voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial in 2021, after the riots at the US Capitol, and also voted against Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which passed.
And she voted against repealing the Affordable Care Act, helping to save the health-care policy commonly referred to as Obamacare.
Yet she backed the president in many crucial votes – including voting in favour of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court and confirming Robert Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, as Health Secretary.
In debates, Jackson tied Collins to Trump’s record, pointing to her voting record and arguing that she could have used her position as a key swing vote to sway the president.
Collins, though, argued she used her position leading the Senate’s Appropriations Committee, which oversees writing bills that allocates federal funds to states and programmes across the US, to make a difference for Maine and its residents.
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