Troy D. Jackson Defeats Susan Collins in Maine Senate Race, Securing Democratic Control of Senate

Democrat Troy D. Jackson defeated longtime Republican Sen. Susan M. Collins in Maine’s U.S. Senate race on Nov. 3, delivering one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 election cycle and helping Democrats win control of the chamber, according to Associated Press reporting and AP election results data.

Widely reported unofficial post-election tallies showed Jackson with 375,516 votes, or 53.1%, to 330,994 votes, or 46.8%, for Collins. The results remain unofficial until certified by Maine election authorities. The AP and other news outlets called the race early Nov. 4, and Collins conceded shortly after midnight.

The loss ended Collins’ 30-year Senate career and came as she sought a sixth term. Her defeat made her the first sitting U.S. senator to lose a bid for a sixth term since Delaware Republican William Roth in 2000, according to Ballotpedia and historical records.

Collins had been one of Maine’s best-known political figures and one of the Senate’s most senior Republicans. First elected in 1996, she had served in the Senate since January 1997, building a long tenure that gave the race outsize national significance for a small state.

Jackson, a former Maine state senator and former Maine Senate president and Democratic leader, emerged as his party’s nominee unusually late. Democrats turned to him on July 25, when delegates selected him at a convention after primary winner Graham Platner withdrew earlier in July. That late switch helped make Jackson’s victory over a six-term incumbent especially surprising.

The race also included six declared write-in candidates, but it was effectively a two-candidate contest between Jackson and Collins. Maine uses ranked-choice voting in federal elections when no candidate wins a majority, but no multi-round tabulation was needed because Jackson’s reported total was above 50%.

“For every family doing everything they can and wondering when somebody is going to do something for them, you have gotten me into this and you’re going to have someone who is fighting for you in Washington, D.C.,” Jackson said election night, according to the AP.

In her concession statement, Collins said, “It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Maine in the United States Senate. I’m proud of all I have been able to accomplish for our state and for our country in the past 30 years.”