Maine Senate Race: Susan Collins Resists Political Warfare

Susan Collins has proven the consummate political survivor. For close to a decade, she has been the only Republican elected to federal office from New England. When some analysts were writing her political obituary in 2020, she surged to a 9-point reelection victory. Today, most polls find her in a razor-close race for reelection to a sixth U.S. Senate term against former Maine State Senate President Troy Jackson. As in her 2020 reelection race, there are distinctive visions of governance on the line.

While he is a former Republican, Jackson has now become a rather standard-issue member of the progressive left. Rather than compromise, he supports heightening political conflict. He has called for abolishing the Senate filibuster and expressed an openness to packing the Supreme Court. The policy page of his campaign website is rather sparse, but the positions espoused — abolish ICE, pass a federal “right to abortion,” and so forth — are mostly indistinguishable from the policy proposals of the Democratic Socialists of America. In fact, the Maine branch of the DSA endorsed him in his failed run for governor earlier this year.

Susan Collins has proven the consummate political survivor. For close to a decade, she has been the only Republican elected to federal office from New England. When some analysts were writing her political obituary in 2020, she surged to a 9-point reelection victory. Today, most polls find her in a razor-close race for reelection to a sixth U.S. Senate term against former Maine State Senate President Troy Jackson. As in her 2020 reelection race, there are distinctive visions of governance on the line.

While he is a former Republican, Jackson has now become a rather standard-issue member of the progressive left. Rather than compromise, he supports heightening political conflict. He has called for abolishing the Senate filibuster and expressed an openness to packing the Supreme Court. The policy page of his campaign website is rather sparse, but the positions espoused — abolish ICE, pass a federal “right to abortion,” and so forth — are mostly indistinguishable from the policy proposals of the Democratic Socialists of America. In fact, the Maine branch of the DSA endorsed him in his failed run for governor earlier this year.