3 takeaways from the 3rd Maine Senate debate between Susan Collins and Troy Jackson
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The third U.S. Senate debate between Democrat Troy Jackson and Republican incumbent Susan Collins didn’t break much new ground, though the candidates did sharpen their responses to questions about affordability, the Iran War and tariffs.
But Tuesday’s debate did provide a few striking moments, and some new substance. Both Collins and Jackson further elucidated their stances on data centers, saying they supported some form of regulation on where the centers could be located, and on how much water and electricity they use.
Polls show a tight race between the 73-year-old Collins and 58-year-old Jackson in Maine’s pivotal Senate race.
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Here are three moments that stood out from their third meeting in a week. They will meet again Thursday for their final debate.
1. They got under each other’s skin
Collins provoked a strong reaction from Jackson about halfway through the debate. The Republican said “once again, Troy is confusing the Medicaid program with the Medicare program.” She proceeded to lecture him about the difference: Medicare largely goes to the elderly; Medicaid largely goes to the poor and sick.
Jackson grew visibly agitated in his response, saying that he understood the issue well because he had visited four birthing centers that have closed recently.
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“Don’t act like I don’t know what I’m talking about, because I do,” Jackson said.
At another point, Jackson returned the favor. After Collins raised the issue of Medicaid fraud, the Democrat brought up recent ProPublica reporting about the FBI investigating whether Collins’ orbit was steering federal funding to a defense contractor and donor.
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“I’m shocked that you’re talking about fraud, because there’s only one person up here that’s been accused of that by the FBI,” he said. (The ProPublica story said that the FBI was gearing to investigate Collins, but the bureau has never accused her of fraud.)
Collins didn’t respond at the time, but brought it back up later after Jackson said she does the bidding of billionaires.
“Troy has repeatedly insulted my integrity all evening long,” she said. “He lied when he said that I was under investigation and found to have committed fraud by the FBI. And I just cannot continue to ignore these attacks on my integrity.”
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At yet another point, Collins noted that Jackson has not yet filed a campaign finance report, which would show his donors. (Jackson entered the race after the last quarterly reporting period ended on June 30.)
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The next round of reports are due by midnight on Thursday, but Jackson offered to release his early.
“I’ll give you the report tomorrow morning. How about that? Is that enough?” Jackson said. “Because we see yours and I know that there’s no billionaires funding me…I’ll give you the report tomorrow and then we’ll talk about it on Thursday.”
2. Collins finds differences in agreement
At several points, Collins deployed a new strategy to highlight her experience — and it came when the candidates seemed to agree on an issue.
Jackson has repeatedly hit Collins for advancing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which extended tax cuts for the wealthy and slashed $1 trillion in public health funding. Many of the cuts will take effect after the midterms.
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But Collins noted that she voted against enacting the bill, which became law in 2025 after Vice President JD Vance broke a tie in the Senate. Despite her vote, she touted her ability to ensure that a $50 billion fund was included to help rural hospitals.
“Troy would have never been able to get that into the bill,” Collin said.
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Jackson noted that the funding Maine would receive because of Collins’ amendment pales in comparison to the cuts.
Collins deployed the same tactic later when it came to Canadian tariffs, which both candidates oppose.
“The bottom line is that Troy and I both would have voted against the Canadian tariffs,” she said. “But here’s the key difference: I’ve been able to negotiate and get certain items removed from the tariff list. Troy would have gotten nothing.”
Jackson protested, noting that he’s been in contact with the Canadian ambassador and the consulate in Boston. But Collins made it clear she was referring to the Trump administration.
“Well, it wasn’t the Canadians that started this problem — it was the Trump administration,” she said.
3. Jackson leans into ICE shooting in Biddeford
Jackson came into the debate planning to make an issue of Collins’ votes to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Tuesday was three-month anniversary of federal agents fatally shooting Johan Sebastián Guerrero in Biddeford.
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But he had to wait for the end of the debate to do it.
Jackson criticized Collins for supporting $70 billion in new funding for ICE and other agencies. He called ICE a “rogue agency” that needs to be abolished, with immigration enforcement being shifted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the FBI.
Collins, however, noted that she was able to include several reforms in the funding bill, including $20 million for body-worn cameras and de-escalation training.
“But more needs to be done,” she said.
Jackson pounced on Collins’ contention that some ICE agents are properly vetted and trained.
“I don’t know how you could stand up here and argue that it’s a good thing to let them out onto our population, out onto the American public, when we’ve seen consistently that they will murder people if you don’t comply explicitly with them,” Jackson said.
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Tagged: election 2026, senate 2026, Susan Collins, Troy Jackson
Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined. More by Randy Billings
