Troy Jackson

National Republicans fought the seat through committees with local names. The Maine Standard, funded by the Senate Leadership Fund, reported $3.75m against Jackson in its first filing on 15 October. The fund itself then spent $4.85m against him from 27 October to 1 November.

The fund's final-week money arrived after Jackson had built his lead over Collins. Jackson took a majority of first choices, so Maine's ranked-choice count never came into play, and Collins conceded on election night. The money did not save a seat Collins had held since 1997.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee gave Jackson's campaign $366,000 in August, its largest August cheque to any campaign. The committee ended that month with $37.6m in the bank against the Republican committee's $18.7m, so it could fund a late entrant quickly.

Jackson had become the nominee only weeks earlier. Maine Democrats chose him at an emergency convention on 25 July 2026, after Graham Platner withdrew. The August money put national party funding behind him within a month of that convention, three months before he won the seat.