2026 Maine Senate race
One page that accretes the verified record as the story develops. Every fact keeps its date and its sources.
Sen. Collins responds to Democratic challenger controversy
Troy Jackson does not dispute that he attacked another man but strongly denies laying a hand on his partner.
Republican political operative Jesse Hunt called Collins a silent killer in reaction to a clip of the interview.
Troy Jackson's campaign said Susan Collins will do anything to distract from the fact that she votes with Trump 96% of the time.
“he’s the one that needs to respond to the reports. I’m not going to comment on them. But I will say that based on widespread reporting it appears that he struggles to control his temper ... From my perspective, it seems that vetting is very important. We learned the failure of vetting with Graham Platner. But that’s really up to the Democrats.”
Abortion rights group endorses Troy Jackson in Maine Senate race
Planned Parenthood's Super PAC announced it would spend more than $600,000 on ads criticizing Collins's record on abortion in Maine.
Timmaraju said the turmoil around the race gave the group pause before endorsing Jackson.
Troy Jackson began his political career as a Republican.
Republicans plan to challenge Troy Jackson
Jackson said he has been in the legislature for 20 years.
Troy Jackson lost the 2024 Democratic gubernatorial primary in Maine.
Jackson publicly disavowed Platner after POLITICO reported that a woman who dated Platner said he had sexually assaulted her.
Democrats poised to nominate Troy Jackson in Maine Senate race
In the 2020 election, Collins won re-election by nearly 9 points while Joe Biden carried the state by the same margin.
Senate Leadership Fund is launching a new six-figure ad campaign aimed at Jackson starting with a digital ad on Saturday.
Collins' campaign criticized Jackson's candidacy as low-energy and the product of a closed process run by Democratic Party elites.
“She was concerned while she rubber-stamped Trump’s Medicaid cuts and gutted our healthcare. She’s concerned when she cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy. Concerned when she confirmed justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, and really tragically, she was concerned when she gave ICE billions to terrorize our neighbors and murder people in the streets with no accountability.”
Troy Jackson nears Maine Democrats' nomination
Jackson's preferred delegates secured nearly all of the delegates in Cumberland County and the majority in the others.
The Maine Democratic Party will hold its nominating convention on July 25 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson's preferred delegates won the overwhelming majority of available delegate slots after the first day of voting.
Troy Jackson closes in on Maine Democratic Senate nomination after caucus
Jackson's three closest rivals were former public health chief Nirav Shah, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, and former 2nd Congressional District candidate Jordan Wood.
Bellows, Shah and Wood overlapped with each other by more than 100 names in some cases.
Washington County extended voting after some participants' landline-registered phone numbers caused technical problems.
Platner withdraws from Maine Senate race; Democrats announce nominee replacement process
Platner drew backing from progressive leaders including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California.
State law requires that Platner's replacement be named by July 27.
Platner's formal withdrawal came two days after he said he would quit the race, facing an allegation of sexual assault that he has denied.
Graham Platner suspends Maine Senate campaign after sexual assault allegation
Bellows ran for Senate in 2014 and lost the general election to Susan Collins by almost 37 percentage points.
Dan Kleban is a co-founder of the Maine Beer Company.
Shah served as principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Biden administration.