Final Appeals in Maine’s Record-Breaking Senate Race
As the clock ticks down toward the Nov. 3 election, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, are making their final, high-stakes pitches to Maine voters in the most expensive Senate race in state history. AdImpact, an ad tracking firm, notes that advertising expenditures have exceeded $260 million, eclipsing the prior state benchmark of $200 million set during the 2020 contest between Collins and Democrat Sara Gideon.
The closing days of the campaign have laid bare two radically different arguments for who should represent the state with the oldest population by median age in the country. While Collins points to a career of delivering tangible federal dollars to rural communities, Jackson is tying his opponent directly to an unpopular national administration and a billionaire class he argues has left everyday workers behind.
The Earmark Argument in Rural Communities
In Winthrop, the emergency dispatch network had been failing almost daily, leaving roughly 18,000 residents across Kennebec County with unreliable service. Town leadership reached out to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. Acting as the leader of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Collins guided local officials through the federal earmarking procedure to secure slightly over $1.1 million earlier this year for updated gear and a replacement tower.
“It’s not a want. It’s a need,” Paul Ferland, police chief of both Monmouth and Winthrop, remarked subsequent to escorting Collins on a walkthrough of the facility. “And for this community to take it upon themselves monetarily, it was just not feasible to get it done any time in the future.”
That stop was part of a late-campaign blitz for Collins, who is seeking a sixth term. She defended her track record of bringing federal money home during stops that also included a new childcare building in Greenville and a public safety building ribbon-cutting in Milo. Collins maintained that she has brought $1.5 billion to Maine for similar local projects, arguing that her seniority and committee position remain essential for a low-income, heavily taxed state.
Challenger Focuses on National Alignment
Jackson has countered those localized pitches by taking the campaign to the statewide stage alongside high-profile national surrogates. During an Oct. 28 event at Flight Deck Brewing in Brunswick alongside U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Jackson dismissed the incumbent’s funding announcements as insufficient compared to broader policy losses.
“People that think that Senator Collins has been doing all this, bringing in all this money, I mean, look, it’s a pittance compared to what we’re losing,” Jackson told the crowd, before asking voters whether they believe the government is currently working for them.
Throughout the final stretch, Jackson has leaned heavily on Collins’ voting record, criticizing her for voting to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh—who had a hand in overturning Roe v. Wade—and arguing she fails to stand up to President Donald Trump. Jackson has also drawn support from prominent national Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Meanwhile, former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a Democrat turned independent, has campaigned with Collins.
Jackson Mocks Ad While Campaigning in Costume
The final days of the race also brought dueling closing strategies over cultural and economic symbols. Donning a costume portraying a “cord of wood,” Jackson participated in Portland family trick-or-treating on Halloween, channeling a controversial anti-Jackson commercial released by the Collins campaign the previous week that critics have labeled elitist. The ad featured retired broadcaster Bill Green, who says, “we’re not talking about buying a cord of wood here. We’re sending someone to the U.S. Senate, and Troy doesn’t have the tools he needs to be effective.”
“Well, if taking away healthcare for people, getting us into foreign wars, and giving billionaires tax cuts are the tools, then yeah, no, I don’t have those tools,” Jackson told reporters. “I’m a working class person, got into the Maine Legislature, ended up being the Senate president for six years. I know how to get shit done. She’s just scared that she’s going to lose.”
Collins, meanwhile, spent Halloween visiting a trunk-or-treat event at Bangor’s Cross Point Church, keeping her focus squarely on constituent services and local projects as voters prepare to head to the polls on Nov. 3.
