Maine Sen. Susan Collins, New England’s sole Republican in Congress, formally launched her bid for reelection Tuesday, setting up what will be a hotly contested and expensive race.
In a 15-second video shared on social media, Collins was shown unboxing a pair of New Balance running shoes.
“This is perfect for 2026, because I’m running,” she says in the clip.
As the only Senate Republican to represent a state that Kamala Harris carried in 2024, Collins is Democrats’ top target in this year’s midterm elections. The party likely does not have a path to the Senate majority without ousting her.
But Collins, the chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee, has successfully fought back against previous Democratic challengers by highlighting her centrist stances and her position as a key Republican voice in the Senate. And her votes have been closely watched in the Donald Trump era.
During the president’s first term, Collins was one of three Senate Republicans who helped sink a GOP effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and she voted to convict Trump at his second impeachment trial after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. But Democrats have targeted her over her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and for voting to advance Republicans’ tax and spending package last year, although she opposed final passage of the measure.
“I consistently approach issues with an eye toward pragmatic results rather than through the distorting lens of ideology,” Collins wrote Tuesday in an op-ed in the Bangor Daily News. “My record is based on achieving outcomes for Maine and the nation, and that speaks louder than any vague, sweeping campaign promise.”
Just last week, Collins was in the Oval Office as Trump signed into law a package of spending bills she played a key role in getting passed. But that came weeks after Trump said Collins and a handful of other Republicans “should never be elected to office again” after they voted to advance a joint resolution meant to limit the president from taking additional military action against Venezuela.
Before they can fully set their sights on Collins, Democrats must contend with a competitive primary between two leading candidates, Gov. Janet Mills and oyster farmer Graham Platner. While Maine voters have reliably supported Democratic presidential candidates, they have not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988. (Angus King, the state’s junior senator, is an independent who caucuses with Democrats.)
Mills has pitched herself as an experienced opponent to Trump and is backed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Platner, meanwhile, is running as an outsider backed by the party’s progressive wing and has faced scrutiny over controversial past social media posts and covering up a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol.
Age appears likely to play a role in the race. Mills, 78, would be the oldest Senate freshman if elected. Platner, who has publicly discussed his and his wife’s struggles to start a family, is in his early 40s.
Platner, who entered the race last summer, has led Mills in fundraising. He entered 2026 with $3.7 million on hand to Mills’ $1.3 million, Federal Election Commission filings showed.
Both Platner and Mills outraised Collins in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the filings, but the incumbent maintained a cash advantage, starting the year with $8 million in her Senate account.
Maine’s Senate race is already shaping up to be an expensive affair. One Nation, a nonprofit group aligned with the top Senate Republican super PAC, ran a pro-Collins ad during Sunday’s Super Bowl game, which featured the New England Patriots. That was part of a broader $5.5 million ad campaign.
Meanwhile, Duty and Honor, a nonprofit aligned with Democrats’ top Senate super PAC, launched a $2 million ad campaign last week, accusing Collins of not holding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement accountable.
Senate Majority PAC, which has ties to Senate Democratic leadership, made a $24 million television reservation in Maine on Tuesday, Lauren French, a spokesperson for the PAC, said. The group is also expected to make a “substantial digital investment,” she added.
“Collins talks about independence, then votes with Donald Trump when it matters most,” French said in a statement. “Maine deserves leadership that understands today’s challenges and has the energy to actually fight for working people, not another six years of excuses and fake concerns.”
Republicans’ leading Senate super PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, announced earlier this year an initial $36.8 million investment for statewide broadcast, cable, digital and radio ads to begin in early August and run through the November election.
“Senator Collins has spent her career proving the pundits wrong and winning tough battles, and we have no doubt she will once again run an effective campaign as SLF and its partners are more committed than ever to support her re-election,” SLF executive director Alex Latcham said in a statement.
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race Tilt Republican.
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