It’s official: Republican Sen.Susan Collins will face Democrat Graham Platner this fall, NBC News projects, in what will be a marquee election in the fight for control of the Senate.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Collins and Platner both won their primaries on Tuesday, in a predictable result.
Collins, first elected to the Senate in 1996, ran unopposed for re-nomination as she seeks a sixth six-year term.And Platner, a veteran and oyster farmer running in his first political race, faced little Democratic competition as two-term Gov.Janet Mills suspended her campaign after failing to gain traction in the race.
She still appeared on the primary ballot.While the primary results were foreseeable, what happens next is anything but.The Senate election has already become a battleground over the future of the Democratic Party and what voters think is most important, as Platner faces numerous controversies about his past conduct.And that’s before the real campaigning between the resilient incumbent and the brash outsider has even kicked off.Maine looms large in the battle for the Senate majority.
Democrats currently hold 47 seats and need a net gain of four to capture the majority.Collins, as the only Republican senator from a state President Donald Trump lost in 2024, is an inviting target for defeat.Sen.
Susan Collins on June 2.Daniel Heuer / Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBut Collins has proven to be a political survivor, repeatedly defying attempts to oust her — and hoping to do so yet again in a difficult environment.In 2020, when Democrats were brimming with optimism about winning the Maine Senate seat, Collins over-performed the polls and won re-election by more than 8 points, even as Trump lost the state by about 9 points.Collins is backed by the president, who said in March on Fox News, “I hope she wins.Because we have to.
She’s a good person, actually.But we have to win.
We have to k...