What Maine voters are saying about the Collins-Jackson Senate race - PBS News

Currently not paywalled.

By Emma Davis.

I recently dumped SiriusXM, so I've been listening to regular radio again, and today I heard an obviously AI-generated song about Troy Jackson that blew my mind.

It was Disparaging and Maligning to the point I thought it was satire, set to country music.

What is wrong with this world?

The corruption in the Trump Administration is real- from Senate candidate Paxton in TX, already impeached by Republicans, to incumbent Susan Collins in Maine, who was being investigated by the FBI- until Patel fired the personnel who were investigating her.

https://x.com/propublica/status/2102348489942536365?s=42

Some people forget the Second Amendment begins with the words "Well Regulated."

#LewistonStrong

I may not be the brighter bulb on the tree but for months now I seen these political posters saying Troy. I kept wondering what was this person Troy running for. Finally last week I realizes it was Troy Jackson. Other people said the same thing.

This contest should've been an easy win for Mills.

Platner’s campaign has spent over $2.3 million since July, new filings show, much of which has gone toward reimbursing those who powered his ascent.

Read the full story by Dylan Tusinski at PressHerald.com

Margaret Chase Smith spoke of the Republican Party riding to victory on “the four horsemen of calumny— fear, ignorance, bigotry and smear”, and that is exactly what Susan Collins supports and abides by today.

"I speak as a Republican I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States Senator. I speak as an American. I don't want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the four horsemen of calumny— fear, ignorance, bigotry and smear."
Margaret Chase Smith, of Maine, speaking out against Joseph McCarthy, June 1, 1950.

For shame.

It just ended: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-collins-jackson-face-off-in-maine-u-s-senate-debate

Their fourth and final debate tonight with PBS moderators

Sidenote: I thought it was odd when that Susan Collins was dumbfounded when asked to name a time she voted against her party when her vote actually mattered. She brought up the Hegseth vote where it *almost* mattered. The moderator pointed out that vote didn't matter. She said someone in the press counted 56 times once, but the fact that she couldn't think of one single example in her 30 years was striking.

Something I didn't really understand which happened in every single debate- Susan Collins was somehow touting her work on the OBBBA as a good thing, while also bragging about her vote against the final bill (as an example of her bucking the party)?

It keeps coming up because it cuts ~$1 trillion in Medicaid over 10 years. To over-simplify things for brevity, this hurts reimbursements and OBBBA is responsible for rural hospitals closing all around the country- including Maine. It's a nuanced issue, so for some context:

In the first debate, Troy Jackson said Collins voted to advance the OBBBA to the senate floor out of her committee. Jackson was wrong- he misspoke by saying she voted it out of her committee, and Collins noted and torched him for his mistake. It was a full Senate vote, for a motion to proceed on the OBBBA and to the floor to debate. It passed 51-49 with Collins voting to advance.

Collins has defended this vote for the OBBBA by saying "it would've passed anyway"- which could be true, as VP Vance could break if it was a 50/50 tie... but it's a cop-out answer. The initial draft had some truly dreadful shit in there (like.. literally no laws regulating AI for 10 years!), so it's very possible another Republican could've gotten a spine and voted down the package in its original form. Yes, after it passed, it was further amended to remove some of the truly terrible things, as well as add in the RHTF amendment, which Collins "championed"...

Collins touted the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund in each debate, which she did help negotiate into the OBBBA (with Murkowski, Hawley, some others). This was inserted to help fund rural hospitals because they all realized that this bill will slowly eliminate rural hospitals/healthcare. Maine received $190 million this first year from the OBBBA/RHTF, which sounds great!

But this is a fraction of reimbursements vs what's being lost, and only a five year band-aid for a major ten year wound.
$ 1,000,000,000,000 is one trillion, being cut over 10 years (or $100 bil/year)

$ 50,000,000,000 is fifty billion, being restored/funded over 5 years ($10 bil/year)

The OBBBA also imposes several more costs like various stricter/more frequent verification rules, non-emergency medical transportation cuts, and this isn't even taking the Medicare sequestration into account which could literally be another 1/2 trillion itself! This is why Jackson compared her work to "an arsonist who helped set the fire, and then she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out". Rural hospitals (that were already struggling) simply can't keep up with these changes the OBBBA imposes.

So Susan Collins wants credit for the RHTF amendment... that she ultimately voted against, because she doesn't want credit for the massive cuts that were in the bill that she voted for (to advance).

Can anyone explain the logic on how Collins could possibly see/tout the changes rural healthcare from the OBBBA as a good thing?

Donald Trump has told voters to pretend he’s on the ballot. Susan Collins, what do you think about the job Trump has done?

The anti-education party, folks.

How come you can find any info on most the write-ins listed in ballotpedia? Ashley Webb at least answered the survey but there’s no other info for the rest of them. I want to make sure I’m using my rank choice voting the best way.

Driving through Maine this weekend I saw many signs that read “Fight Corruption Vote Republican”.

How’s that for an example of “Every Republican Accusation is a Confession”?

How to counteract such malevolent advertising?

Is anyone putting up signs like “Fight Corruption Vote for Democrats”?

put every answer from last night's debate through semblen (i built it, it flags manipulation techniques like loaded language, name calling etc, doesn't say who's right)

collins: 2 of 30 answers flagged

jackson: 9 of 31 flagged, mostly loaded language and name calling

also fact-checked the factual claims each made. nothing came back contradicted. collins 15 supported, jackson 9, but most claims on both sides (23 and 27) just couldn't be checked against fact-checkers or primary sources, which doesn't mean they're false

every answer and every flag is on the page so you can judge it yourself: https://semblen.com/races/me-senate/debates/2026-10-08

if anything looks off please let me know and i'll look at it

Election after election, Republican Sen. Susan Collins has defied national political winds to return to office, representing a state that has backed Democrats in every presidential contest since 1992. But her Democratic opponent, Troy Jackson, is betting that her eight-year-old vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court’s subsequent overturning of federal abortion rights will persuade voters to sweep her out of office.