Maine US Senate 2026
Election day is November 3, 2026. A statewide contest in Maine.
Who is favoured in Maine US Senate?
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What the Maine US Senate election decides
The Senate confirms federal judges and cabinet officers, ratifies treaties, and can stop legislation the House passes. With a six-year term and a hundred-member chamber, a single seat is a larger share of the institution than any House district, which is why Senate races draw national money into state contests.
Each state sends two senators regardless of population, so this seat carries the same weight as California's or Wyoming's. Maine voters fill it alongside all 2 of the state's House seats and the governorship, and a Senate term runs six years, spanning two future Congresses and, in this case, the next presidential election.
How Maine votes
Maine splits politically between its more liberal southern coast around Portland and a rural, working-class north. It allocates electoral votes by congressional district, uses ranked-choice voting, and rewards candidates with independent profiles. That backdrop is the ground any Maine campaign fights on, and it is what the Electorate HQ simulation reads first when it weighs a ticket's platform against this contest.
About this race
The 2026 United States Senate election in Maine was held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Maine. Democratic former state Senate president Troy Jackson defeated Republican incumbent Susan Collins. The election was conducted with ranked-choice voting.
Primary elections were held on June 9. Collins, seeking a sixth term, was the only candidate to qualify for the Republican nomination. Sullivan harbor master Graham Platner won the Democratic primary over Governor Janet Mills with the support of progressive figures, but withdrew on July 10 amid accusations of sexual assault and other controversies. A party convention selected Jackson to replace Platner as the Democratic nominee on July 25.
This was the only Republican-held seat in a state President Donald Trump lost in the 2024 election. Although Jackson frequently led in polling, onlookers were cautious in anticipating a flip due to Collins having outperformed polls in the 2020 Senate election. Jackson is the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate election in Maine since George J. Mitchell in 1988, while Collins is Maine's first incumbent senator to lose re-election since William Hathaway in 1978. Collins' loss additionally marks the first time since the party's founding in 1854 that New England will have no Republicans representing the region in the U.S. Senate.
Latest coverage of the Maine US Senate race
Will ranked choice voting affect timing of Maine and Alaska's Senate race results? Here's what we knowThe outcome of Maine’s US Senate race may not be known for weeks. Here’s why.In Maine's Senate race, voters weigh opposing views of Susan Collins' power and influenceMaine Senate race polls: who will win the 2026 election?Here’s how ranked-choice voting will work in Maine’s 2026 electionHere Are the Maine Democrats Who Might Replace Graham PlatnerHow Democrats could replace Graham Platner in Maine Senate race and who might take his placeMaine's 2026 Senate race: What to know about Susan Collins vs. Troy JacksonThe rest of the Maine ballot
Every Maine House district, the counties inside each one, and an address lookup that resolves your exact districts are on the Maine state page.
Other 2026 races in Maine
Analysis covering Maine
Twenty-six states elect a senator and a governor on the same day in 2026
The overlap between the Senate class and the gubernatorial cohort is a coincidence of two unrelated calendars, and it decides where money goes.
The 2026 Senate map covers 62% of the country and 70% of the states
Thirty-five of fifty states vote for Senate this year. Weighted by people rather than states the share drops, and that gap is the design of the chamber.