Susan Collins loses Maine Senate seat to Democrat Troy Jackson
Incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins was defeated by Democratic challenger Troy Jackson after a campaign focused on abortion, healthcare costs, and the influence of President Donald Trump in Maine.
Democratic candidate Troy Jackson won Maine’s open Senate seat on Tuesday, with Republican incumbent Susan Collins conceding shortly after midnight. Collins, a nearly 30-year senator, had previously been praised for securing federal projects for the state, but this election cycle was dominated by voter concerns over abortion rights, rising healthcare costs, and the lingering impact of President Donald Trump’s unpopularity in the state.
A Marist poll released in October showed that only 42 percent of likely Maine voters approved of President Trump’s performance, while a Fox News poll from August indicated that more than half of Mainers believed Collins voted with Trump too often. Collins had broken with Trump on several votes, including the impeachment conviction and opposition to his Canadian tariffs, but she was unable to offset voter anxiety about economic issues.
Economic concerns featured prominently in the final Times/Siena poll, which found that 51 percent of voters trusted Jackson on cost-of-living matters compared with 44 percent for Collins. The poll also revealed that 46 percent of respondents said their family finances had worsened over the past year.
Abortion also emerged as a decisive factor. Although it was not a top issue for most Mainers, campaign advertising in the state heavily emphasized Collins’s vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which opponents framed as evidence of a pro-anti-abortion stance. A Planned Parenthood spokesperson told the outlet that abortion was “the number one negative in Maine voters’ mind,” and a Democratic-aligned super PAC allocated the majority of its advertising budget to abortion-related messages.
Healthcare costs, particularly the fallout from the Republican-led Medicaid reforms, were another focal point. While Collins voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, she supported bringing the legislation to the Senate floor and advocated for a $50 billion rural health-care fund within the package. Critics argued that the fund did not compensate for the projected $137 billion reduction in Medicaid funding for rural providers.
During an October debate, Jackson compared Collins’s role in the Medicaid legislation to “an arsonist who helped set the fire, and then she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out.”
Surveys indicated that healthcare costs were especially important to older voters; an AARP Maine poll found that 80 percent of respondents aged 50 and older said the issue would influence their vote. Jackson led overall by three percentage points in that poll, though Collins held a nine-point advantage among the older demographic.
The election results reflect a broader shift in Maine’s political landscape, where alignment with President Trump and positions on abortion and health-care policy proved decisive for voters.