# Fox News Projects Democrat Troy Jackson Unseats Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, Ending Her Nearly Three Decades in the Senate

Collins conceded after the Fox News Decision Desk projected Jackson, a former state Senate president and fifth-generation logger, the winner. He replaced Graham Platner on the ballot after Platner dropped out in July.

- Section: [Politics](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/politics/)
- Published: 2026-11-04
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/troy-jackson-defeats-susan-collins-maine-senate-fox-news-decision-desk-projects-collins-concedes/

Democrat Troy Jackson has defeated Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, the Fox News Decision Desk projects, ending the Senate career of Maine's longest-serving member of Congress.

The result. Collins, first elected in 1996, was seeking a sixth term. Fox says she conceded Tuesday night. "It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Maine in the United States Senate," she wrote, adding that she had called Jackson to congratulate him and promised a smooth transition. Jackson wrote on X: "Maine, I owe you everything."

The winner. Fox describes Jackson as a fifth-generation logger and former president of the Maine Senate who represented part of Aroostook County. He ran as a working-class Democrat and labor advocate. He became the nominee after Graham Platner left the race in July amid allegations of sexual assault, which led the state Democratic Party to vote to install Jackson. Fox also notes that early in the campaign it was reported that Jackson's longtime partner, the mother of his two children, is also his second cousin. It says that was not enough to stop him.

The incumbent. Fox says Collins chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee and built her campaign on independence and bipartisan dealmaking. Democrats attacked her votes for Trump-backed policies and her vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Collins answered that she has opposed Mr. Trump and Senate Republicans when she disagreed. She told Fox News Digital last month that ads calling her a "puppet of the president" would "come as a huge surprise to President Trump." Former Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin campaigned with her in the closing weeks.

The context. Collins won by nearly nine points in 2020. Fox says Democrats entered this race with an advantage from Maine's increasingly Democratic electorate and opposition to the Trump administration. The loss adds to the Senate seats Republicans lost Tuesday; our earlier report covered the AP's call that Democrats won Senate control.

What we could not check. This is a projection by Fox's Decision Desk, relayed here from Fox's report. We have not verified the vote totals or margin, and Fox's piece does not give them.

## Source

Original reporting: [Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-senators-30-year-reign-ends-5th-generation-logger-pulls-off-stunning-upset)