# AP Calls Maine Senate Race for Democrat Troy Jackson, Ousting Sen. Susan Collins

The Associated Press declared Democrat Troy Jackson the winner over Republican Sen. Susan Collins at 12:02 a.m. Central on Wednesday. Collins had already conceded. The count is unofficial, with about 72% of the expected vote in.

- Section: [Politics](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/politics/)
- Published: 2026-11-04
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/ap-calls-maine-senate-troy-jackson-defeats-susan-collins/

The Associated Press has called Maine's U.S. Senate race for Democrat Troy Jackson, defeating Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who was seeking a sixth term.

The call. The AP declared Jackson the winner at 1:02 a.m. Eastern, which is 12:02 a.m. Central on Wednesday, November 4. The AP's results page, updated at 1:14 a.m. Eastern (12:14 a.m. Central), estimated 72% of the expected vote counted and showed Jackson with 291,682 votes (53.0%) and Collins with 258,254 (46.9%). Those counts are unofficial and will change as the rest of the vote comes in.

The concession. Earlier in the night the AP reported that Collins had conceded to Jackson, before it called the race. Our live results page held the race as not called until the AP's own call came through.

The candidates. The AP describes Jackson as a former Maine Senate president who took over as the Democratic nominee in July, after primary winner Graham Platner dropped out. The AP says Platner left the race while facing an allegation of sexual assault, which he denied. The AP says Democrats considered defeating Collins key to winning control of the Senate, and that she was one of Republicans' most threatened incumbents this year.

The bigger picture. The AP reported earlier that Democrats have won control of the U.S. Senate, with six Senate seats flipping to Democrats. It says control of the House has not been called; the AP declares House control only when one party reaches 218 seats.

Opinion and reaction. This report is news, not commentary. Reaction from both parties is still coming in, and we will label any commentary as opinion when we publish it.

Where to follow. Our Election Headquarters page shows each key race, who called it and when, and the unofficial counts, updated every 15 minutes through 3:45 a.m. Central.

What we could not check. The vote counts come from the AP's results page and are unofficial until the state certifies them. We have not seen an official result from Maine's Secretary of State.

## Source

Original reporting: [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/live/midterm-election-2026)