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In an often-testing Tuesday night debate, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine touted her three-decade-long record in Congress and took aim at several Trump policies — while Democrat Troy Jackson argued that Collins had not pushed back against the Trump administration.
The Maine Senate race is one of November most viewed contestsand could be decisive in determining which party controls the upper chamber next year. While the state leans left, and hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since the 1980s, Collins’ history of surviving tough re-election challenges has baffled Democrats for more than a decade. Most polls show a razor thin race.
Collins highlighted her “knowledge, experience, seniority and relationships,” including her ability to secure funding for projects in Maine as chairman of the influential Senate Appropriations Committee.
“I was able to bring federal dollars home to help ease the burden on our taxpayers,” said Collins, who is running for a sixth term in the Senate.
Collins also has a history of breaking with President Trump, criticizing his Trade war with Canada and strategy in Iranand voting against the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year — issues that came up frequently in Tuesday’s debate.
Asked about Mr. Trump’s suggestion that he travel to Maine as part of a pre-election campaign swing, Collins said she did not expect the president to visit.
“I haven’t heard anything from his office, and I’m not exactly his favorite senator,” she said.
But Jackson — a former state Senate president who hails from the same largely rural northern Maine county as Collins — argued that Collins has not used her power effectively to push back against Trump administration policies, accusing her of siding with the president too often.
He criticized Collins for voting to confirm Trump nominee Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, setting the stage for the Supreme Court’s Roe v.
“Would you trust her to choose the next Supreme Court Justice?” asked Jackson.
Collins responded that when evaluating nominees for the Supreme Court, she “always looks[s] She said she disagreed with the decision to overturn Roe, but added that “there’s only one of us on this stage who has always been pro-choice” — a reference to Jackson’s previous opposition to abortion.
While Collins voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which reduce Medicaid and food stamp spending and extended a number of tax cuts from Trump’s first term, Jackson repeatedly criticized the senator for voting yes to an earlier procedural measure to prepare the bill, arguing that she had tried to block the legislative package.
Collins said Jackson was “misrepresenting[ed] the facts.” She noted that she opposed the bill because of its Medicaid cuts, but argued that her decision to advance the bill to the Senate floor would allow her to secure a $50 billion fund for rural hospitals.
Jackson responded: “Senator Collins is like an arsonist who helped start the fire, and then she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out.”
Collins also pointed to her votes to limit Mr Trump’s power to wage war against Iran, saying the war was “not well thought out” and noting its impact on global energy markets. Jackson criticized Collins for vote against previous Iran measures.
Both candidates have been critical of Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Canada, which have sparked a tit-for-tat trade war with Maine’s neighbor. Collins said she opposed the trade war but “worked behind the scenes” to get exemptions for goods that are key to Maine’s economy or for the operations of municipal governments, such as road salt.
“Canada is our friend. It should be treated as such,” she said.
Jackson mocked Collins’ approach as he wrote a “strongly worded letter”.
“What about everything else?” he asked. “I don’t think we can eat road salt.”
The two candidates were also deeply critical of the behavior of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a man in Maine was fatally shot by an ICE officer during a traffic stop over the summer. Collins called it “terrible,” and Jackson said he was “murdered.” But they struggled over the policy response. Jackson said ICE should be “disbanded” and should not receive a flood of funding, while Collins said the agency needs “serious reforms” but must continue to exist.
“It needs reform, not repeal,” Collins said.
A longtime state legislator, Jackson initially ran for governor. But after losing in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Jackson was replaced as the party’s Senate candidate at the last minute by the winner of the Democratic primary, Graham Platner. fell out under sexual misconduct charges. Platner denied the accusation.
Collins took aim at Jackson’s record in state politics. She argues many of the affordability challenges that have animated voters — including over energy prices and Medicaid reimbursement rates — are the result of mistakes by politicians in the state capital of Augusta.
She also questioned Jackson’s effectiveness as a lawmaker, pointing to bills he introduced that were rejected in committee without Democratic support.
“If you couldn’t find a person in your own party to vote for your bills when you were Senate President in Maine … how do you think you’re going to get things done in a closely divided Senate as the junior senator?” Collins asked her opponent.
Jackson said Collins “doesn’t understand the legislative process,” saying that it “gives up the system” for “one or two people to vote for a bill that’s not going to make it.”
