Troy Jackson defeats Susan Collins in Maine Senate race

Jackson defeats Collins in Maine

Troy Jackson, a logger and former Maine Senate president, defeated Republican Senator Susan Collins, ending her three-decade tenure. Collins conceded before the Associated Press called the race.

Jackson's path to the nomination

Jackson became the Democratic nominee after oysterman Graham Platner dropped out in midsummer amid allegations of sexual assault, which Platner dismissed as categorically untrue.

Jackson's campaign message

Jackson cast himself as a working-class advocate from rural northern Maine, blaming Republican policies for a lagging economy. He tied Collins to President Donald Trump and promised to make life more affordable.

Jackson's victory speech

Jackson told supporters: Maine, I owe you everything.I'm ready to get to work for Mainers in the U.S.Senate, and I promise you this: I'll never forget where I came from or who I'm fighting for.

“Maine, I owe you everything. I'm ready to get to work for Mainers in the U.S. Senate.”

Jackson's background and politics

Jackson, fifty-eight, grew up poor in Allagash, a town of about two hundred thirty people. He started logging at nineteen and entered politics after leading a blockade against Canadian loggers taking local work.

Why voters abandoned Collins

Voters said Collins had become less independent and moderate than when she started. They felt the desire to shift Congress away from Republicans outweighed her delivery of money and projects to Maine.

Collins' political standing shifts

Collins, the longest-serving female Republican Senator and longest-serving member of Congress from Maine, was re-elected by nine percentage points in twenty twenty, even as President Joe Biden carried the state by the same margin.