Follow the key U.S. Senate contest in Maine with this interactive, county-by-county map, which tracks the results in real time.
WASHINGTON — Maine voters went to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 3, to choose their next U.S. senator.
The contest pitted five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins against former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, a Democrat, in a race that could help determine control of the Senate.
Maine is one of only two states—along with Alaska—that uses ranked-choice voting in statewide elections. With six declared write-in candidates, the system could have shaped the outcome if neither Collins nor Jackson won more than 50% of the vote.
Early Wednesday, Collins conceded the race. The Associated Press later declared Jackson the winner.
Below is a breakdown of the latest Associated Press results in Maine’s Senate race, along with a live map showing which candidate is leading in each county as votes are counted.
Note: The Associated Press uses Estimated Expected Vote Percentage. Here’s what that means. Maine uses ranked choice. Here’s what that means.
When do polls open and close?
Polls in Maine open between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., depending on a town’s population, and close at 8 p.m.
Who are the candidates?
A member of the U.S. Senate since 1997, Susan Collins has become one of the country’s most closely tested politicians, winning five competitive election campaigns in Maine. In 2020, she defeated Democrat Sara Gideon by 8%, while Joe Biden carried the state over President Donald Trump by 9%.
Collins is the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate. In June, she cast her 10,000th consecutive Senate vote, extending a streak that has remained unbroken since she first entered the chamber in 1997.
Troy Jackson, a former president of the Maine Senate from Aroostook County, served in the state Legislature from 2002 through 2024. After beginning his career as a logger, Jackson made his working-class background a central part of his Senate campaign.
During his time in office, Jackson moved closer to the Democratic Party’s progressive wing. He was once a Republican and later a conservative Democrat who opposed abortion rights. In 2009, he was one of two Democratic state senators to vote against same-sex marriage—positions he has since changed.
Jackson backed Bernie Sanders during Sanders’ unsuccessful 2016 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. He later embraced several of Sanders’ priorities, including Medicare for all, or universal health care.
Collins’ balancing act
Collins entered the race in a distinctive position: She was the only incumbent Republican senator seeking reelection in a state won by former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Casting herself as a political maverick, Collins has often opposed President Donald Trump’s major policy priorities. The New York Times reported that she voted against the Republican platform 17% of the time since 2025, more frequently than any other Republican senator.
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In 2021, Collins joined six other Republicans in voting to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial. She also opposed Pete Hegseth’s nomination for defense secretary in 2025 and voted to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran after the War Powers Act’s 60-day deadline.
Trump did not endorse Collins during her Republican primary campaign, but he also did not oppose her nomination. Facing no serious challenge within the state GOP, Collins secured the nomination easily.
Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, praised Collins’ independence. At an August rally in Brewer, Maine, he said her political approach fit the preferences of voters in the state.
“Whenever I’m in Maine, I have to give Susan a little bit of crap, because as you know, she’s the most independent member of the Senate. And as the president of the United States Senate, she sometimes makes things a little bit harder,” Vance said. “But she makes it harder because she is coming to work every single day and fighting not for a political party and not for an abstraction.”
Jackson emerged as the nominee following a scandal
While Collins secured the Republican nomination with little difficulty, Jackson became the Democratic nominee at nearly the last moment—and without a primary election deciding the choice.
Originally, it was Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran, who won over voters as the Democratic nominee. A political outsider, Platner’s campaign managed to outperform Janet Mills, the current Democratic governor of Maine, who suspended her campaign before the June primary.
Platner’s campaign faced scrutiny early on after a video revealed the candidate had a chest tattoo that resembled a Totenkopf, the skull and crossbones symbol of the Nazi S.S. Platner later covered up the tattoo, claiming he did not know about the Nazi association.
Then, a sexual assault allegation led to a chorus of Democrats calling on Platner to drop out, which he did in July. He has denied the allegation.
Jackson had been among a crop of Democratic candidates who had been on the back bench after he lost a competitive primary for governor to Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree.
Platner had been politically aligned with Jackson, endorsing his run for governor. As a result, many state delegates saw Jackson as a natural fit for the nomination. While other candidates, including former CDC official Nirav Shah, competed for the nomination, delegates eventually selected Jackson.
More Election Resources:
When will we know who won the midterms?
When do polls close on Election Day? A guide to voting times in all 50 states
Why isn’t Election Day a federal holiday?
Midterm elections: Here are the key races that will decide control of the Senate
What to do if your name isn’t on the voter rolls on Election Day