Main Republican Sen. Susan Collins reaffirmed this week that her “position in the middle of American politics” is why she will run for re-election in 2026, setting up a high-stakes Senate race in November’s midterms.
“I still plan to run for re-election,” she said, despite frustrations with current Senate dynamics and its increasingly irregular budgeting and appropriations process. “People who are in the middle are tending to leave. They’re tending to retire.”
Collins, who is the head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that she is the only Republican in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives from the six New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. This is a big change from when she joined the Senate in 1997, when the region was more bipartisan.
Collins said, “I think that was much healthier. It was a much less polarized era, and it’s important to have voices of people who want to solve problems. I’m not one who tends to rant and rave on certain news shows. Instead, I like to bring people together to search for common ground.”
“What we need in this country is for those that are in the center to be as riled up and involved as those on the far left and the far right,” Collins said. “It is hard to get things done.”
The race will be closely watched.
The midterm elections are critical, as they determine control of the House and Senate, along with President Trump’s agenda.
The re-election of Collins has been the primary objective of Maine Republicans, particularly given the radical leftist candidates opposing her.
This encompasses sitting Governor Janet Mills. Maine State Representative Laurel Libby, who initiated Lead Maine to promote Republicans and conservative matters in the state, cautioned, “Maine cannot afford to send Janet Mills to the Senate.”
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) characterizes Mills as a “disaster” for Maine.
“Thanks to Janet Mills’ broken promises, Mainers are paying higher taxes and more to rent their homes and buy groceries. Janet Mills has made Maine one of the most expensive states to live in, and Mainers are sick and tired of paying the price for her failed policies,” said NRSC Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell in a press release.
Collins’ other opponent, Graham Platner, is similarly deficient.
Platner possesses — or possessed — a prominent Nazi tattoo on his chest, advocates for the abolition of ICE, maintains associations with socialists Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders, seeks to defund the police, labeled voters as racist, and asserted that violence is essential for instigating political change.
A recent poll indicates that Susan Collins is leading over both of her leftist opponents, which is favorable for voters in Maine and the nation as a whole.
Advertisement
But the polls are good news for Collins in a close election year.
At the end of January, Collins’ campaign said they had raised $2.2 million in the last three months of 2025.
The campaign has more than $8 million in cash on hand to run against whoever her Democratic opponent will be.
Every race is important because the Senate is up for grabs, and Maine is no different. Democrats want to take Collins’ seat because they know it’s important to stop President Trump’s plans (and the will of the American people).
But early polls, fundraising, and Collins’ long history with the people of Maine suggest that the Democrats’ efforts may not work out in the end. It looks like voters are ready to say no to the extreme ideas of Mills and Platner.
Collins winning the seat will not only be good for Maine, but it will also be good for a Senate majority that wants to govern instead of show off.
