Troy Jackson Ousts Susan Collins in Maine Senate Race

Democrat Troy Jackson defeated Republican Senator Susan Collins in Maine on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Collins conceded to Jackson, Reuters reported, in a major pickup for Democrats in one of the most competitive midterm races in the country.

Collins called Jackson to concede, Jackson campaign spokesperson Maggie Amjad confirmed to USA Today. The USA Today live entry reporting the concession was timestamped 12:27 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.

The count behind the concession

An Associated Press results snapshot at check time listed Jackson with 275,827 votes to 249,814 for Collins, with 62.11 percent of precincts reporting and an estimated 68.67 percent of the vote counted. The AP itself still listed the race as too early to call at that snapshot. The concession, not the snapshot, is the confirming event, and both Reuters and USA Today reported the outcome on that basis.

The end of a long run

Collins was first elected in 1996. She had repeatedly survived as a moderate Republican in a state that has not backed her party for president since 1988, Reuters reported. That run ended against Jackson, 58, a former Maine state Senate president who emphasized his blue-collar roots as a fifth-generation logger from Allagash. Jackson campaigned on universal healthcare and drew support from Senator Bernie Sanders.

Reuters reported that economic headwinds helped Jackson. The Iran war pushed up fuel and home heating oil prices, a salient issue in rural Maine, and the trade war with Canada weighed on tourism, lobstering and logging, three industries that reach deep into the state's rural economy, the same ground where Jackson built his political base.

An unusual path to the nomination

Jackson did not start the cycle running for the Senate. He initially campaigned for governor and came in third in the June 2026 Democratic primary. Democrats selected him in July 2026 as the Senate nominee to replace Graham Platner, who dropped out after facing rape allegations, which he denied. The allegations were reported as allegations, and Platner's denial was reported with them.

What it means for the Senate

Republicans held a 53 to 47 Senate majority going into the midterms, and Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to take control. Democrats had already been projected to win Senate control earlier in the night in a separate result. The Maine flip is a distinct race result inside that larger outcome: a seat Republicans had held since 1996, in a state their presidential candidates have not carried since 1988, now changes parties.