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Sharing the stage for the first time Tuesday night, incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic nominee Troy Jackson directly blamed each other for Mainers’ struggles and called each other corrupt.
Tuesday night’s debate, hosted by CBS News 13/ WGME, is the first of four debates over the next two weeks for the Senate race, which could decide the balance of power in U.S. Congress. Polls have the candidates in a virtual tie.
Collins, the five-term incumbent, wasted no time getting to what has consistently been her key pitch to Maine voters — touting the federal funding she has been able to secure for the state in her opening remarks.
Before getting into his own background, Jackson, former Maine Senate president and logger, used his opening remarks to condemn Collins for her vote on this day eight years ago to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. This is Collins’ first reelection campaign since Kavanaugh helped overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“Tonight is about who you stand with when it matters,” Jackson said.
Their closing statements later summed up how they each would approach the job.
“To be effective in the Senate, you need knowledge, experience, seniority, and relationships,” Collins said.
Meanwhile, Jackson said, “I don’t owe Donald Trump and the billionaires anything.”
The economy
Collins blamed Jackson for Mainers’ high cost of living.
“If you look at the policies that have driven up the cost of living in Maine, you have to look at Augusta,” Collins said.
In turn, Jackson blamed Collins.
“It’s because of Sen. Collins not being willing to stand up to Donald Trump, voting with him 96% of the time,” Jackson said, noting her vote to advance Trump’s signature spending package, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which is projected to slash Maine’s Medicaid funding by billions over the next decade.
Collins pointed out that she ultimately voted against the final package.
“If I had not allowed the bill to go to the floor, I would never have been able to author the $50 billion fund to help rural healthcare,” Collins said, referring to a mitigation effort she got tacked on to the law.
Jackson equated that approach to “an arsonist who helped set the fire, and then she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out.”
Corruption
Jackson and Maine Democrats have been accusing Collins of corruption after ProPublica reported last month about her alleged involvement in a pay-for-play scheme, which she has denied.
She did so again Tuesday night. “These allegations are completely false and they are very offensive,” Collins said.
Collins’ staff has said the FBI has not contacted them since 2021, when it was investigating her donor, Martin Kao, the former CEO of defense contractor Navatek, who pleaded guilty in 2022 to illegal campaign contributions involving a pro-Collins super PAC. No one in Collins’ orbit was charged as a result of the investigation then.
But ProPublica reported that the FBI was looking into the senator again in recent years — that was until Donald Trump returned to office for a second term and the probe died as part of his purge of the bureau. Among many claims, Kao said in the ProPublica story that Collins wouldn’t meet with him until he donated to her campaign.
Ahead of the debate Tuesday, Collins’ staff held a press call to share a document showing Collins supported a joint University of Maine and Navatek project at the university’s request in 2017. Her staff also shared a photo of the senator meeting with Kao months before a donation was made.
How Mainers are weighing the pay-to-play allegation involving Susan Collins
Maine Democrats said in response Tuesday that they still believe the paper trail points to a pay-to-play scheme and noted the incomplete recent probes into the senator.
Jackson was also given a chance to respond to pro-Collins ads calling out his son for working as a lobbyist while he led the Maine Senate.
“My son didn’t do anything wrong,” Jackson said.
Collins criticized the former Senate president for getting travel to his home in Allagash reimbursed during his tenure, even though he also had a house in Augusta. The Maine Ethics Commission declined to pursue that same residency complaint made by a Republican state lawmaker back in 2023. It is common for Maine legislators who live in districts far from the State House to stay in long-term rentals or hotels during session.
“I was in the House five days a week, and I went home on the weekend, just like every other legislator,” Jackson said.
Questioning each other
The moderator allowed the candidates to ask one question of the other.
Jackson focused again on Collins’ vote to confirm Kavanaugh, asking: “What will it take for you to admit that you were wrong?”
Collins said she evaluates U.S. Supreme Court nominees based on their qualifications and experience. She added, “There’s only one of us on this stage who has always been pro-choice, and that’s me,” referring to Jackson’s opposition to abortion early on in his time as a state legislator.
Collins asked Jackson how he thinks he will get things done in a closely divided Senate as the most junior senator, citing governors vetoing dozens of his bills and some of his proposals not making it out of committee.
Jackson rebutted that she does not understand how the state legislative process works.
“Multiple people put in the same bill. I am a team player,” Jackson said. “I let other people go forward with bills because I felt it was more important for them to get the recognition than me.”
Is fraud a problem?
When asked if fraud is a problem, both said yes, though Jackson said only if it is true and Collins unequivocally said there already is a “terrible problem” with fraud in healthcare programs.
“Taxpayer money is always needed to be taken care of, spent wisely,” Jackson said. However, he qualified, “Having people come from D.C. just to score political points, I don’t agree with. Let’s have an independent investigation go in and find out for sure.”
Pointing to an independent investigation under former President Joe Biden, Collins said the inspector general found $42 million in improper payments and fraud in Maine’s Medicaid program, as well as noted other recent allegations.
Maine’s health department has stressed that that federal audit did not contain any allegations of fraud. The state has suspended payments to five providers who billed MaineCare for services they did not provide as it investigates improper payments and independently reviews the findings of the federal audit.
On Trump and socialism
Collins did not answer when asked if she would join Trump if he comes to Maine to campaign.
“I don’t think that President Trump is going to come to Maine,” Collins said. “He’s talking about going to a lot of different states. I’ve heard nothing from his office, and I’m not exactly his favorite senator.”
Jackson was asked if his support for Medicare for All was because he is a socialist.
Ignoring the latter, Jackson responded, “I support Medicare for All so that people that I know across the state have healthcare.”
Well known stances
The candidates also reiterated their well known stances on several issues.
Jackson supports Medicaid for all, while Collins said Big Government taking over healthcare is not the solution.
They also disagreed on whether to keep sending military aid to Israel. Collins said she thinks the current level of military aid to Israel is good. Jackson said he doesn’t want “any more offensive weapons going to murder people in Palestine” and called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal.
Jackson supports abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while Collins opposes getting rid of the agency and called for reform.
Collins added that she and independent U.S. Sen. Aungus King wrote to Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey asking for permission for his office to be involved in the federal investigation into the fatal ICE shooting in Biddeford. She also said the federal inspector general is investigating, however, family members and local officials have previously said that they had not been contacted by the federal government.
There were a few points of agreement Tuesday night. Both candidates said there should be federal guardrails on Artificial Intelligence and data centers and that they support federal protections for access to medical abortion drugs.
For more on the candidates stances on these issues and others, check out Maine Morning Star’s voter guide.
by Emma Davis, Maine Morning Star
Maine Morning Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maine Morning Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lauren McCauley for questions: [email protected].
