Troy Jackson’s closing campaign message is here
Troy Jackson speaks during the campaign at Maine Beer Company on Tuesday with Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Hannah and Chellie Pingree. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)
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Democratic candidate for U.S. Sen. Troy Jackson is making his final pitch to voters about why they should oust five term Republican incumbent Susan Collins, framing the race as a choice between Trump-aligned billionaires and ordinary working Mainers.
The closing days of the race have devolved into an onslaught of personal attacks and negative ads, fueled largely by outside groups aligned with Collins. Republican-aligned groups have attacked Jackson’s family and questioned whether has “the tools” to be a senator. A recent ad from the Collins campaign spotlighted the moment Jackson told her to “shut up” at an October debate.
“As much as Susan Collins and her billionaire backers want you to think I’m the bogeyman, I’m not,” Jackson said in op-ed published in the Bangor Daily News. “I’m just a working guy who’s tired of working Mainers being ignored.”
The 58-year-old also published an op-ed in the Portland Press Herald Wednesday in which he laid out what he said were the generational stakes of the Senate race. Jackson’s article seemed directed especially toward women: He wrote about his newborn granddaughter, the closure of birthing centers and the fall of Roe v. Wade after Collins voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The dueling op-eds dovetailed with his final campaign ad of the season, in which he says “Mainers will decide the direction of the whole country.”
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In addition to bashing Jackson, Collins has focused her campaign’s closing days on the amount of federal dollars she brings to Maine as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. She often notes that she’s delivered $1.5 billion to the state over the last five years.
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On Monday, Collins visited a mobile home park in Camden that received a $1.3 million federal earmark to help upgrade its sewer system.
The contrast in closing messages shows how Democrats have been trying to nationalize the race, while Republicans have sought to focus on local issues. Both sides also appear to be making a final push for the same constituency: moderate women.
In a radio interview on WVOM Wednesday, Collins noted that President Donald Trump only has two years left on his term, while whoever is elected next week will serve six years. She said voters should consider who can best help to “fix some of the problems created by this administration.”
“It’s not going to ever be Troy Jackson,” Collins said. “I’m going to be the fifth-highest ranking senator if I’m elected. Troy would be number 100, or if he’s lucky, 99. The difference that you can make for the people of Maine, because of your seniority, is enormous.”
Collins has come under attack by Jackson and Democratic-aligned groups for what they say are her moves to aid Trump’s agenda: installing conservative justices to the Supreme Court, passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and launching a war with Iran, which has fueled inflation and high gas prices. (Collins did not support early, Democratic-led efforts to revoke Trump’s war powers in Iran, but she voted against the war nine times after the 60-day threshold for congressional approval had been reached under the War Powers Act.)
The 73-year-old has also been accused of corruption — charges aided by a ProPublica investigation about a possible pay-to-play scheme with a defense contractor. And her husband’s work as a former lobbyist and his stock portfolio have also been in the spotlight.
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In a statement, Collins’ campaign stayed on the attack, criticizing Jackson for what they characterized as his broken pledge to not take money from political action committees.
“In the final week of this campaign, Senator Collins will be crisscrossing the state on her All of Maine bus tour, highlighting her record of independent leadership and delivering results for Maine,” campaign spokesperson Blake Kernen said in a statement.
In his Bangor Daily News op-ed, Jackson called the federal funding Collins touts a pittance compared to the damage she has enabled during Trump’s second term. He highlighted Collins’ vote to advance the One Big Beautiful Bill, which contained $1 trillion in healthcare cuts and extended tax cuts for the wealthy, though Collins ultimately voted against the bill.
“I think this campaign boils down to Susan Collins and the billionaires versus the people of Maine,” he wrote. “Collins has spent the last 30 years in Washington. I think she’s been there too long and she’s become part of the problem.”
Democrats see Maine as a prime pickup opportunity, since Collins is the only Senate Republican running in a state won by Democrats in the 2024 presidential election. But Collins has proved resilient in the past, surviving a tough reelection battle in 2020, despite trailing the polls.
Jackson has enlisted a roster of national surrogates in the closing weeks. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, a possible 2028 presidential candidate, held a rally in Freeport Tuesday night and had additional events planned in Brunswick Wednesday. His visit came on the heels of appearances by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York.
Last week, Collins’ campaign received a boost from former Sen. Joe Manchin, a longtime former Democrat-turned-independent from West Virginia. Manchin touted Collins’ independence and bipartisan chops at stops in Androscoggin County.
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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
