Troy Jackson defeats longtime Maine Sen. Susan Collins

Washington — Democrat Troy Jackson defeated GOP Sen. Susan Collins in the Maine Senate race, CBS News projects, in a key victory for Democrats who have sought for decades to oust the Republican senator.

Maine Democrats selected Jackson, 58, as their nominee in July, after the party's initial nominee Graham Platner withdrew following an allegation of sexual assault. Jackson, a fifth-generation logger who lost his bid for governor earlier this year, previously served as president of the Maine state Senate and has billed himself as a champion of the working class.

Jackson faced off against Collins, who was the sole Republican incumbent seeking reelection in a state Kamala Harris won in 2024, making the race Democrats' clearest pickup opportunity. But the five-term senator, with a history of breaking with President Trump, had survived political headwinds in the past. And after Democrats' chaotic primary process, Jackson's path to victory in the Pine Tree State remained tenuous.

Collins, 73, questioned Jackson's effectiveness as a legislator, while she touted the influence in the Senate that she has wielded for Maine's benefit. But Jackson argued Collins hasn't gone far enough in her opposition to the president, and zeroed in on her support for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which paved the way for the high court to overturn the federal right to an abortion in 2022. 

The projected victory spells trouble for Republicans as they fight to hold onto their Senate majority, after the unpopular war in Iran and persistently high gas and diesel prices expanded a map once favorable to the GOP, putting a number of red states in play for Democrats.