The Daily Populous Wednesday July 22nd, 2026 evening edition
Authored by wgme.com and submitted by jediporcupine

The race for Maine's U.S. Senate seat continues to take shape as Democrats prepare to officially select their nominee at this weekend's state convention.

A new University of New Hampshire poll shows former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson leading incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, 49% to 46%, in a potential general election matchup.

Jackson's three-point advantage is just outside the poll's margin of error.

Jackson is one of four candidates who officially qualified for Saturday's Democratic nominating convention. However, Maine Beer Company owner Dan Kleban has suspended his campaign and endorsed Jackson.

Jackson also enters the convention as the favorite after securing the support of a large majority of delegates selected during last weekend's county caucuses.

Maine's Senate race is also drawing increasing national attention.

A new Fox News Political Power Rankings report lists Maine as one of four Senate toss-up states that could determine which party controls the chamber next year. The other states are Alaska, Iowa and Ohio.

Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the U.S. Senate. Democrats would need to gain four seats to take control, as Vice President JD Vance would cast the tie-breaking vote in the event of a 50-50 split.

Contunator on July 22nd, 2026 at 11:38 UTC »

Six years ago today, polls showed Sarah Gideon up four points over Susan Collins. Collins won that election by nine points. That's in a state Biden won, so there were likely some number of Democrats who votes for Collins. This was post-Kavanaugh vote, post "the President has learned from this...impeachment is a pretty big lesson". Did they learn their lesson this time?

Wings81 on July 22nd, 2026 at 11:22 UTC »

It should be super easy to rally behind a progressive candidate in Maine who doesn't have mountains of baggage. I feel better about Jackson's chances than the other guy.

CountOnBeingAwesome on July 22nd, 2026 at 11:21 UTC »

She'd lose to a sharpened pencil rn. Fox says it'll be a coin toss. Get out there and vote for Troy.