Late Democratic entry Troy Jackson has won Maine’s US Senate seat, defeating longtime Republican senator Susan Collins, taking advantage of President Donald Trump’s deep unpopularity to dislodge an incumbent who had survived tough challenges in the past.
His victory on Tuesday gave his party a key seat in its quest to seize control of the Senate from Republicans.
“For every family doing everything they can and wondering when somebody is going to do something for them, you have gotten me into this and you’re going to have someone who is fighting for you in Washington, DC,” Jackson told supporters in Portland on Tuesday.
Jackson, 58, a fifth-generation logger and former president of the state Senate, had a little more than 100 days to sell himself to Maine voters after he replaced Graham Platner as the party’s nominee in July.
He won a hastily convened nominating convention and began barnstorming the state, focusing heavily on economic issues such as the high costs of housing and health care.
Collins, 73, was widely perceived as the most vulnerable Senate Republican this election year.
She entered election day as the only Republican lawmaker in Congress from New England and was seeking her sixth term representing a state that has voted for the Democratic candidate for president since 1992.
“It has been the honour 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 after calling Jackson to concede.
Platner, an oyster farmer and political newcomer, had drawn huge crowds and enthusiasm but also faced a string of controversies.
After he announced in July that he would withdraw from the Senate race, Jackson won a special nominating convention later that month.
Jackson criticised Collins as not doing enough to stop Trump.
“Senator Collins is like an arsonist who helps set the fire and then she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out,” he said.
Collins was first elected in 1996 and has touted her independence from Trump and her party.
She has said she did not vote for Trump in 2016, and she voted to convict the president after his 2021 impeachment over his role in the January 6 Capitol riot.
In January, Collins joined a handful of Republican colleagues in backing a failed effort to limit the president’s ability to unilaterally use force in Venezuela.
Collins has been a top target of Democrats before.
Many pollsters predicted Collins would lose in 2020.
Collins won handily during a year that Democrats won the presidential race and both US House seats in Maine.
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