Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins on Tuesday formalized her bid for reelection, setting up a contest that could determine control of the U.S. Senate next year.
Collins made her announcement in a short video posted on social media in which she opens a box of running sneakers from New Balance, which has a factory in Maine.
"This is perfect for 2026 because I'm running," she says.
Collins, 73, will seek a sixth term and do so at a time when she's arguably never been more vulnerable. National Democrats and Republicans are expected to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the race, potentially shattering the state record $200 million spent during her reelection contest in 2020.
Like then, Collins will run with President Donald Trump in the White House and at a time when his policies are increasingly unpopular. While the Republican survived similar headwinds six years ago, Democrats are trying once again to portray her as an enabler of his conduct.
In the past, Collins has won because she's been able to convince Maine's independent voters that she's influential and able to secure federal funding for the state. That was especially true in 2020 when her campaign repeatedly highlighted her likely ascension to become chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. While many polls showed her trailing her well-funded Democratic opponent, former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, she ultimately won the race by more than nine percentage points and in a state that former Democratic President Joe Biden won handily.
Democrats are hoping for a different result this year. They've tried to use the Trump's administration's moves to wrest spending from Congress to frame Collins as ineffectual as the Senate's lead budget appropriator.
Her leading Democratic challenges are Gov. Janet Mills and oyster farmer and military veteran Graham Platner. Mills, a two-term governor and former prosecutor, has repeatedly asserted that Collins' nearly 30-year career in the Senate has come at the expense of Mainers' interests.
"Seniority without a backbone is just tenure, and after decades in Washington, Senator Collins has failed to demonstrate the leadership required in this dangerous moment in history," Mills said in a statement. "As Donald Trump tramples on the Constitution, undermines the rule of law, and weaponizes the federal government against the American people, Susan Collins is refusing to stand up to his abuses and is instead rubber stamping a Republican agenda that prioritizes the wants of the wealthy over the needs of working Maine people."
Platner, meanwhile, is using a message of working class populism and framed Collins as an ally of the wealthy interests.
"In November, the movement we are building will turn the page not just on Senator Susan Collins, but also on her politics of hollow promises, acquiescence to Donald Trump, and failed leadership that’s made her and her friends richer but has sold out the rest of us," he said in a statement. "We will deliver this seat back to the people of Maine."
