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U.S. Sen. Susan Collins conceded the race to Democrat Troy Jackson early Wednesday morning in a seismic move that ends the Republican’s 30-year tenure in the Senate.
Jackson had 53.1% of votes to 45.7% for Collins when the Bangor Daily News and its national partner, Decision Desk HQ, called the race at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday.
“It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Maine in the United States Senate. I’m proud of all I have been able to accomplish for our state and for our country in the past 30 years,” Collins said in a statement Wednesday morning, adding that she called Jackson to congratulate him and ensure a smooth transition.
The election all but ends the political career of one of Maine’s most famous and scrutinized elected officials. Collins, who rose to a top position in the U.S. Senate touting her centrism and skills as a dealmaker, was ultimately toppled by divisive national politics she could no longer navigate.
It was the first time Maine voters ousted a sitting senator since 1978, when Republican U.S. Rep. William S. Cohen, Collins’ mentor, beat Democratic Sen. Bill Hathaway. Hathaway had won the seat six years earlier by unseating Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, Collins’ role model.
Jackson’s win helps Democrats take decisive control of the Senate. Democrats had already flipped six Senate seats earlier Tuesday night, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Iowa and Ohio.
“A little more than 100 days ago, I stood in front of our convention and asked you to put your faith in a logger from Allagash. I told you that we had a party to unite, a movement to build, and a senator to defeat. Well tonight, this morning, the people of Maine have elected that logger to the United States Senate,” Jackson said in a victory speech Wednesday morning.
“If you’re watching this after getting home from a shift or sitting at the table wondering how you’re going to pay the next bill, I want you to hear something very clearly: You are sending somebody to Washington who knows exactly what that feels like. More importantly, I am going to remember who sent me there.”
The progressive former Allagash logger and Maine Senate president led in almost every public poll since late September. But supporters stayed anxious because Collins beat former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon in 2020 after trailing in every poll, and fewer than half of Jackson’s own backers thought he would win, according to the final University of New Hampshire poll.
Jackson was not supposed to be on this ballot. Democrats entered the summer behind Graham Platner, a populist oyster farmer who weathered controversies over old Reddit posts and a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol to push Gov. Janet Mills out of the primary, only to quit the race in July after a Maine woman accused him of sexual assault, an allegation he denied.
The party then built a nominating process from scratch with no precedent in Maine politics. Jackson, who revived a campaign that finished third in the June gubernatorial primary, rallied labor organizers and Platner’s progressive base to win 566 of 571 delegates at a July 25 convention in Bangor, leaving him barely 100 days to campaign.
He overcame a wide spending gap by tying Collins to President Donald Trump, pointing to votes he said paved the way for the end of federal abortion rights and deep health care cuts. About 60 percent of likely voters disapproved of Trump’s job performance in final polls.
The race broke Maine spending records. The 2020 race between Collins and Gideon topped $200 million in total spending, and this one passed that on the airwaves alone, with $284 million in ads aired or booked through year’s end, according to AdImpact. Republicans held a $46 million edge, led by the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Republican leaders.
Collins ran on her seniority as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and her breaks with Trump on tariffs and the Iran war. Her allies attacked Jackson’s lack of polish and federal experience and his history of testy exchanges with colleagues in Augusta.
Her 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who later helped overturn federal abortion rights, and her vote to bring Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act to the Senate floor became major flashpoints. She voted against the bill’s final passage, citing its cuts to Maine’s Medicaid program.
Jackson also seized on a September ProPublica report that FBI agents had sought as late as 2024 to widen a bribery investigation that could have involved Collins. She called the allegations false.
Jackson has said his top priorities in Washington will include ending the Iran war and working toward Medicare for All. He will be sworn in in January, ending a Senate career for Collins that began in 1997 and in which she never missed a roll-call vote.
Jackie Cassida, a 55-year-old self-employed independent voter in Belfast, voted for Jackson, citing women’s health and Collins’ vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“I believe it’s time for Maine to see a change, and I think Sen. Collins is due to have a happy retirement,” she said.
BDN writer Elizabeth Walztoni contributed to this report.