Susan Collins is trying to win a sixth Senate term by emphasizing her independence from President Donald Trump, but her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, is making Trump central to the race. Maine is a Democratic-leaning state that Trump lost in 2024, and the contest could help determine control of the Senate.
At debates in October, Jackson repeatedly tied Collins to Trump’s agenda, citing her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and her procedural vote to advance Trump’s 2025 tax and spending bill. Collins ultimately opposed that bill, partly because it cut Medicaid, while arguing that advancing it allowed her to seek a $50 billion rural-health fund. Jackson called the fund inadequate compared with the Medicaid reductions.
Collins has responded by highlighting votes against Trump on tariffs, immigration enforcement and the war in Iran. In the candidates’ third debate on Oct. 13, she said she had voted nine times with Democrats to end the Iran conflict after the statutory 60-day period and pointed to about $1. 5 billion in federal funding for Maine projects. Jackson argued that Collins had helped advance policies that harmed Maine before claiming credit for limiting their effects.
The president’s presence has complicated Collins’ effort to separate herself from the Republican administration. Trump has suggested campaigning in Maine, but when asked whether she would appear with him, Collins said she was “not exactly his favorite senator” and predicted he would not come to the state. She voted to convict Trump after his 2021 impeachment and joined Republicans who backed an unsuccessful effort in January to restrict his authority to use force in Venezuela, prompting Trump to say those senators should not be reelected.
The political environment has given Jackson room to press the case that Collins’ independence is overstated. A congressional vote analysis found that Collins aligned with Trump’s stated position 92% of the time since the beginning of his second term, while a separate campaign-backed calculation put the figure at 96% over a narrower period. Collins’ campaign cites her broader record of breaking with her party, and she has argued that her seniority as chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee delivers resources for Maine.
The race has also been shaped by affordability and health care. Collins has blamed state policies associated with Jackson’s tenure as Maine Senate president; Jackson has blamed Collins and Republicans for federal policies affecting energy and medical costs.
Polling has shown a close contest. A September poll cited in debate coverage gave Jackson a four-point advantage among roughly 1,500 registered voters, just outside the poll’s margin of error, while other surveys have often placed the candidates within the margin. Collins remains a veteran campaigner with a long record of winning in Maine, but Trump’s low approval and the state’s voting history have made her effort to define herself apart from him a central test of the campaign.