OPINION: This year’s U.S. Senate race is a crucial one. On the right side of the aisle, Republicans are fighting tooth and nail to maintain their control of both the House and Senate. On the other hand, Democrats are doing everything they can to break the Republican Party’s congressional majority and bring balance back to Washington. In the middle of all this controversy stands the state of Maine, which is expected to experience one of the most closely contested elections in the United States.
Maine’s tightly contested election has come down to two candidates. Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from Allagash, Maine, will be the Democratic candidate. His opponent will be Republican Sen. Susan Collins, running for her sixth consecutive term in the U.S. Senate. The only question on everyone’s mind is which of them is better for Maine’s citizens and students.
To know the answer to this question, we first must understand who the candidates are and what they are seeking to achieve.
Jackson, the Democratic nominee, has built a very strong grassroots movement centered around the working-class people. With support from organizations such as the Maine AFL-CIO and People Power Maine, Jackson’s campaign is heavily focused on making Maine more affordable by cutting taxes for working families and lowering the cost of necessary prescription medications for Maine residents.
Jackson has built his campaign on holding those in power accountable, and it is something he has done for a while now. “It seems like the government only works for those at the top,” stated Jackson during a press conference in 2025. “Career politicians cater to people with money, power and influence, ignoring the voices of everyday working people.”
Alternatively, Collins’ campaign has been built on her previous work as a Maine senator. Collins often cites her work as one of the most bipartisan servants in Washington as a point of leverage, showing she is not afraid to cross party lines to protect Mainers.
“A major difference between Troy and me [is that] I vote independently. Of all the hundred senators, the studies show that I am the most bipartisan member of the Senate,” said Collins during the most recent Maine Senate debate. “We don’t need more people who will vote in a straight party line. We need people who will ask the question, ‘What is best for Maine?’”
While both nominees certainly build a good case on the surface level, when looking into Collins’ most recent term as Maine senator, we begin to see different narratives arise.
According to the most recent CQ Roll Call, Collins sides with President Donald Trump on 92% of her votes. While this may not inherently be bad, some of these votes, such as her vote to advance Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” have had an adverse effect on Maine people.
As is well known, Trump’s “big beautiful bill” would go on to cut Medicaid funding nationwide, making healthcare less affordable for many low-income families. A reported 9,100 Mainers have already lost their healthcare, including 2,850 children, as a result of this bill that Senator Collins voted to pass.
Furthermore, Collins was a deciding vote in a bill that sent $70 million in federal funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE has been a heavily scrutinized government agency during the second Trump administration, due to multiple civilian deaths (including one in Biddeford, Maine) and their use of excessive enforcement.
On the contrary, Jackson has been very outspoken in his view that ICE should be disbanded, which is something I certainly believe many Americans and Mainers can get behind. ICE has been a stain on this great nation’s legacy. Hiding behind masks, hurting members of the general public and their lack of restrictions, particularly regarding not releasing the footage of their body cams, is simply sickening. Jackson suggests we “put that money into Customs and Border Patrol. They have training, they’re law enforcement, people respect them, [and] we don’t respect ICE.”
Collins is also well known for voting associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh into office. Kavanaugh is one of the men responsible for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which made abortion illegal in 13 states, impacting 43% of women who are of reproductive age, again marking another crucial decision made by Collins that adversely affects women across the nation.
I think it is in the best interest of Maine people and students to vote for someone who will show up for them time and time again. That person certainly is not Collins, and her most recent term is a signifier of that.
On the contrary, Troy Jackson has proved on many occasions that he is willing to show up for the Pine Tree State. His work as a labor ally with the AFL-CIO, encouraging working-class Mainers to unionize and protect themselves against the ruling-class, speaks for itself. Jackson’s “Contract with Working Mainers” that outlines his promise to lower childcare costs within the state, lower taxes for working Mainers and prevent Wall Street private equity firms from buying Maine housing, shows his commitment to protect this state and its people. It is for that reason, and many others, that we should put our faith in Troy Jackson as the next U.S. senator of Maine.
