Republican Susan Collins conceded her Maine Senate campaign to Democrat Troy Jackson early Wednesday, Nov. 4, ending her bid for a sixth term. The race had not yet been called when she conceded, so the concession was not itself a finalized election result.
Maine uses ranked-choice voting. Collins and Jackson were the only candidates on the ballot, but write-in votes could keep either from reaching 50%, which would trigger a ranked count.
Collins, 73, first won her Senate seat in 1996 and was New England’s only Republican member of Congress. During the campaign, she pointed to her influence on committees and budget negotiations, including her position as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. She also emphasized her independence from President Donald Trump.
Jackson, 58, previously led the Maine Senate. After losing the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, he won the party’s emergency Senate convention in July, following the withdrawal of primary winner Graham Platner. The late change left Jackson about 100 days to campaign. He promoted workers’ rights and efforts to address housing and health care costs.
The candidates clashed over Collins’ record. Jackson criticized her vote to advance Trump’s tax and budget legislation out of committee, though Collins later voted against the bill’s final passage. He also focused on her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Collins supports abortion rights and has said she does not regret that confirmation vote.
Jackson and other Democrats argued Collins had yielded to Trump. Collins sought to distinguish herself from the president, saying during a debate that she was not one of his favored senators.
Yolonda Harris
News Now Georgia
