The race between Susan Collins and Troy Jackson is among the nation’s most high-profile Senate contests this yr — and should in the end be determined by an particularly highly effective voting bloc: Maine girls.
Transcript
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The race for U.S. Senate in Maine is poised to be some of the aggressive of the midterms. It is a alternative between incumbent Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson. To win in November, each want the help of an particularly highly effective voting bloc, Maine girls. NPR’s Elena Moore experiences.
ELENA MOORE, BYLINE: On an 89-acre flower farm in Belmont, Maine, Stacy Leafsong is ending up some preparations for a marriage. With pops of blue and white, the flowers mirror the colours of the coast, which is only a quick drive away from right here.
STACY LEAFSONG: I do flowers seven days per week, actually stay and breathe flowers.
MOORE: She says she constructed this farm from scratch and as a single mother. She’s additionally a progressive activist and, final yr on the farm, hosted the primary fundraiser for Graham Platner’s Senate bid. Since then, she watched his rise after which fall. Platner dropped out final month over rape allegations, which he denies. Leafsong had already denounced him by then, disturbed by earlier experiences about his habits. As a home violence survivor herself, watching Mainers stick by him upset her.
LEAFSONG: I do know persons are extremely burdened, and I believe persons are actually scared, so there’s that rationalization. However I additionally assume that his marketing campaign was extremely poisonous in quite a lot of methods.
MOORE: Now Leafsong is backing the get together’s new choose, Troy Jackson, a progressive former state senator, and he or she hopes he can actually converse to Maine girls.
LEAFSONG: Ladies’s points are way more than childcare and abortion. There are such a lot of advanced points within the state.
MOORE: Whether or not he can do which will decide his possibilities of defeating Susan Collins, and that might show costly. In line with AdImpact, Republicans have already spent thousands and thousands on adverts making an attempt to hyperlink Platner to Jackson, seizing on experiences that he has a brief mood.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Disturbing information about threats of violence in opposition to girls. Is it Graham Platner once more? No, it is Troy Jackson.
MOORE: In contrast to Platner, Jackson has by no means been accused of sexual violence in the direction of girls, however there have been accounts of him entering into shouting matches with colleagues throughout his time as a state lawmaker. It is one thing he is apologized for and says he is all the time tried to deal with colleagues with respect. To grasp why these adverts might maintain weight, have a look at Maine’s voters.
EMILY CAIN: Ladies voters in Maine are the vast majority of voters. And so it’s a must to take them significantly.
MOORE: That is Democrat Emily Cain. She’s a former state senator and the earlier govt director of EMILYs Listing, a company that backs girls candidates who help abortion rights.
CAIN: Independents are, you recognize, virtually a 3rd of voters in Maine. However the majority of voters are girls who’re older. So the individuals who determine statewide races are independents who’re additionally a majority girls.
MOORE: Collins has survived powerful elections earlier than, however 2026 is the primary time she’s on the poll since Roe v. Wade was overturned. She’s lengthy thought of herself pro-choice, however in 2018, her vote was essential in confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court docket, rising a conservative majority that went on to get rid of the constitutional proper to an abortion. Talking to reporters earlier this summer time, Collins mentioned she would not remorse her vote.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SUSAN COLLINS: Clearly, I am disenchanted in that call, which turned abortion points again to the states. It has not had an impression on the state of Maine.
MOORE: Jackson nonetheless plans to make it a problem. He is developed on the subject, initially coming into politics as an abortion rights opponent, then shifting left and voting to develop entry in recent times. Talking to Maine Public Radio final month, he argued he is the higher advocate on the problem.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
TROY JACKSON: I am rock stable on this now, and Susan has been the other.
MOORE: However ultimately, these points might come second for a lot of voters. Diana Kushnar is a Republican operating for state Home. Speaking with girls on the marketing campaign path, she says their major concern is excessive prices.
DIANA KUSHNAR: They’re nervous about whether or not they can afford a house and – as a result of the rising utility payments, the price of elevating a household, after which simply entry to healthcare and whether or not their kids may have even a cause to remain in Maine.
MOORE: Many share these issues throughout the aisle, however there’s additionally a need for management change. Kelli Brennan, a nurse and union chief, feels that means.
KELLI BRENNAN: I believe, for ladies in Maine, what we’d like proper now’s anyone who understands the working class.
MOORE: And from nurses and academics to single mothers, Brennan says the working class very a lot contains girls. Elena Moore, NPR Information.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional data.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts might differ. Transcript textual content could also be revised to appropriate errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org could also be edited after its unique broadcast or publication. The authoritative file of NPR’s programming is the audio file.
