Second Maine Senate debate takes testy turn: 3 takeaways
Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson squared off Thursday in the second Maine Senate debate of the week, sparring over the Iran war and high prices as their battleground race barrels toward Election Day.
The hourlong debate, hosted by WMTW, turned testy at times as the rivals defended their records and re-upped many of their night-one talking points about abortion, immigration and the economy. Collins stressed that she’s often at odds with her party, while Jackson highlighted her alignment with President Trump.
The stakes were high for both candidates to avoid on-stage gaffes and snag strong clips that could move the needle of the close race. Decision Desk HQ’s polling averages show Jackson, who became the party’s pick after their initial nominee withdrew this summer, leading the five-term incumbent by just over a point in the blue-leaning Pine Tree State.
Here are three takeaways from the latest debate, with two more showdowns scheduled later this month:
Senate hopefuls battle over Iran war: ‘You owe me an apology’
The rivals clashed over remarks on the Iran war and its economic impacts on Mainers struggling under high prices.
As the candidates debated how to address record-high heating oil prices, moderator Jon Chrisos pressed Collins over her Senate votes on Trump’s military moves in Iran.
She stressed that she has “voted nine times to end this war” under the War Powers Act. A live fact-check from PolitiFact, though, called her claim “selective counting,” pointing to five times Collins voted against such resolutions.
“She could use her leverage to stop this war. But instead, they’re making money,” Jackson argued during the debate. “I mean, Senator Collins and her husband [are] making money, more, off of this war, and so is a whole bunch of other people, and that’s why this doesn’t, doesn’t stop.”
Collins hit back sharply.
“That is absolutely outrageous, and you owe me an apology,” the senator said.
“No, you owe me an apology,” Jackson replied.
The senator’s husband, Thomas Daffron, owns stock in Boeing and RTX, both defense contractors for the U.S. Military, according to reporting from The Maine Independent. A spokesperson told the outlet last month that Collins has “never bought, sold or owned” any individual stock shares as senator, and that her husband’s investments “are made exclusively by a third-party advisor without his consultation.”
Jackson pointed to the war — which is deeply unpopular among midterm voters — at multiple points in the night, stressing that “we have to get out of Iran” to bring down fuel prices, and raising concerns that “people will freeze to death this winter because they can’t afford to heat their home.”
Collins, though, cast doubt on the Iran war as the main driver of high electric rates in Maine, casting blame on moves from the state Legislature, where Jackson served as Senate president.
“It’s just not accurate to say that it’s the Iran war that has caused Maine to have the fourth highest electric bills in the country. If it were the Iran War, why wouldn’t New Hampshire and other states have the same level of electric bills that Maine has?” Collins asked.
Collins defends seeking sixth term
Thirty years ago, Collins pledged she would only serve for two terms if elected to the Senate. Now, she’s going for a sixth six-year term.
“What I learned is how much more effective I could be as the seventh ranked person in the Senate versus 99th, which is what I was when I first started out,” Collins said, when asked on the debate stage about what changed her mind.
Touting some of her more recent legislative achievements, including becoming the first Maine senator to chair the powerful Appropriations Committee, she said “I couldn’t have done this in the early years in the Senate.”
Collins was reelected in 2014 by nearly 40 points, but won her 2020 bid by a comparatively slim 9 points. She’s now considered one of the most vulnerable senators in the 2026 cycle.
But Jackson also faced questions about what was behind his bid. After running unsuccessfully for governor this cycle, the Democrat was named as his party’s replacement nominee after Graham Platner, a progressive oyster farmer who won the initial primary, withdrew amid sexual misconduct allegations.
“Why should voters see this as your own campaign and not something that you inherited?” Chrisos asked.
“Well, it isn’t my own campaign. I mean, it’s the people across Maine,” Jackson replied. “This is not about Troy Jackson. It’s not about Graham Platner. What it is about is Donald Trump and Susan Collins and the band that are making life so much harder in the state.”
Collins, Jackson respond to controversial reports
Both candidates responded to recent reports that have raised questions about both candidates’ financial moves in the run-up to Election Day.
Collins denied recent reporting that accused her of receiving illegal campaign contributions, calling the claims “absolutely false.”
ProPublica reported in September that, after a former CEO of defense contractor Navatak made a 2019 donation to a Collins super PAC, Collins used her position on the Appropriations Committee to award military contracts to the company.
Martin Kao pleaded guilty in 2022 to making illegal campaign contributions. The FBI at the time found nothing implicating Collins or her campaign — but Chrisos questioned what Collins would say to voters who think the report raises questions about her campaign financing.
“Well, they don’t, and these allegations are absolutely false, and they’ve been proven false. But Troy and Chuck Schumer keep running false ads to try to convince you otherwise,” Collins said.
She said that the University of Maine had come to her with a proposal for research with Navatek, and that Kao is “in jail today, where he belongs.”
Jackson, too, responded to new reporting about donations to a PAC he was involved in during his service in the Maine Legislature.
The Washington Post reported that, up until two years ago, the Democrat used a PAC that accepted funds from tobacco, pharmaceutical and other big companies and affiliated PACs — though he openly rejects corporate PAC money in the Senate race.
Asked what he’d say to voters who think his role in the PAC raises questions, Jackson said that the PAC “is a group of people.”
“I didn’t make decisions on who or what, when we were going to take money,” he said.
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