‘The status quo sucks’: affordability and Trump loom over final stretch of Maine’s tight Senate race

Maine's Senate contest, one of the most closely watched of the midterm cycle, enters its final days with Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson roughly tied in recent polling ahead of the November 3 vote. Democrats consider the seat vital to winning back the Senate, and voters' frustration over prices is merging with their verdict on Donald Trump's second term, according to The Guardian.

Jackson, a progressive lumberjack who campaigned for just 101 days, replaced Graham Platner, who left the race after a string of controversies, including a rape allegation he denied. Jackson portrays Collins, seeking a sixth term, as a dependable ally of the president despite her moderate image. He cites her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh and a ProPublica account of an FBI probe into a donor arrangement that reportedly faded after Trump dismantled the Justice Department unit involved. Her office called that account categorically false.

Collins says she votes for Maine's interests regardless of who occupies the White House, pointing to her opposition to Pete Hegseth's nomination and her backing of an Iran war powers resolution. Yet she advanced Trump's Medicaid-cutting package procedurally before opposing it.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →