Sanity Rule #42: Hold those with whom you agree AND disagree to the same standard.
Maine's U.S. Senate race pits Republican Sen. Susan Collins against Democrat Troy Jackson, former Maine Senate president. Jackson became the nominee in July, after Graham Platner left the race in disgrace. Each candidate is checked against their own claims and against the other side's attacks. Every ruling rests on a roll call, a filing or an official report.
Part 1. Jackson: his claims vs. his record
1. Claim: "Troy wrote the laws creating Maine's Prescription Drug Affordability Board and created a path to import cheaper drugs from Canada." (jacksonformaine.com/issues)
- Record: He sponsored both: LD 1499 (the board) and LD 1272 (imports), signed June 24, 2019. (LD 1499, LD 1272) The import program has never operated; Maine's application has been "awaiting FDA approval" since 2020. (NCSL) As of September 2025, the board could not set price caps. (Board minutes)
- Ruling: True. He wrote both laws. No data shows either lowered a price, though his site says he "successfully" did.
2. Claim: "Troy passed a law giving our state's loggers and haulers the same right to bargain collectively as potato farmers and lobstermen." (jacksonformaine.com/issues)
- Record: He sponsored LD 1459. It passed the Senate 23–11 and was signed June 7, 2019. (Legislature) We found no data on its effect on pay.
- Ruling: True.
3. Claim: "Passed universal school meals." (jacksonformaine.com/about)
- Record: Universal meals came through the 2021 supplemental budget, LD 221. The Senate passed it 32–2 (roll call #467); Jackson voted yes. Signed July 1, 2021. (LD 221; Roll call; Full Plates Full Potential) His follow-up bill, LD 1679 (signed May 3, 2022), created an online application and a private-school study. (LD 1679) Year one: more than 28 million meals, 21% above pre-pandemic. (Full Plates)
- Ruling: Partly true. He led the Senate that passed it. He did not pass it alone.
4. Claim: He stood up to Gov. Janet Mills on drug prices, binding arbitration and tribal sovereignty. (Maine Public questionnaire, April 2026; we could not locate it online)
- Record: In 2021 Mills vetoed his drug-pricing bill LD 1117, companion bill LD 675 (Sen. Ned Claxton's), his employment-law enforcement bill LD 1711, and his aerial-herbicide ban LD 125. All are dead. (Bangor Daily News) In 2023 she vetoed tribal bill LD 2004, which he cosponsored. (LD 2004) Tribal bill LD 1626 passed the House in 2022 and died in the Senate he ran. (LD 1626) Whether he cosponsored LD 1626 is unverified.
- Ruling: True on drug prices. Unverified on arbitration (no arbitration bill among his vetoes). Partly true on tribal sovereignty.
5. Claim: He voted against the 2011 LePage income tax cuts. (Maine Public questionnaire)
- Record: He voted no on the 2011 budget's tax package, Senate roll call #262, which passed 29–6. (Roll call) The package cut income taxes $150 million and lowered the top rate. (Sun Journal/AP)
- Ruling: True.
6. Claim: "Troy isn't backed by corporate PACs or billionaire donors." (jacksonformaine.com)
- Record: At the Oct. 13 debate he said, "I know that there's no billionaires funding me." His Oct. 15 FEC filing showed maximum donations from billionaires. (Press Herald) He then said: "As far as billionaires that I might have on my campaign, that is accurate." (Sun Journal) FEC data shows $467,544 from PACs and parties; top givers are Democratic leadership PACs, unions and the trial lawyers' trade group. (Maine Files)
- Ruling: Partly true. No single-company PAC among top givers. The billionaire half is false, and he conceded it.
7. Claim: "Mainer by birth. Logger by trade." (jacksonformaine.com/about)
- Record: Ethics filings list logging employers 2006–2012, none after 2013. (Maine Monitor) His 2026 disclosure shows $138,000 in consulting fees from two Maryland-based unions and no logging income. (Maine Morning Star)
- Ruling: Partly true. He was a logger. The present tense does not fit the last 13 years.
Part 2. Jackson: the attacks vs. his record
1. Attack (Collins): "It's under Troy's leadership that electric rates in Maine became the fourth highest in the nation." (PolitiFact)
- Record: Maine ranked 8th in 2018 and 8th in 2024. Prices rose 46%. The solar program added about $9 of a $66 rise in the typical CMP bill; gas prices and storms drove most of the rest. (PolitiFact) He voted for the solar expansion, LD 1711 (2019), roll call #312, 32–2. (Roll call)
- Ruling: False on "fourth highest." Rates rose sharply, and he voted for part of the cost.
2. Attack (Collins campaign): He voted against LD 1347 (2023), a bill to curb solar costs.
- Record: He did. He later voted for LD 1986, a different overhaul that became law. (PolitiFact)
- Ruling: True. The attack omits the LD 1986 vote.
3. Attack (Collins): From 2000 until 2013–14 he "was very anti-choice."
- Record: Perfect Maine Right to Life scores in 2003 and 2010. A 2011 yes vote on penalties for harm to an "unborn" child. In 2023 he cosponsored LD 1619, the abortion-access law. (PolitiFact; LD 1619)
- Ruling: True.
4. Attack (GOP): The committee he led took corporate and lobbyist money.
- Record: He led the Maine Senate Democratic Campaign Committee 2018–2024. Per the Free Beacon, it took about $54,000 from corporate PACs (including Cigna and CMP parent Avangrid), $131,000 from lobbying firms and $22,000 from lobbyists. (Free Beacon, republished; Washington Post)
- Ruling: True, per the Free Beacon.
5. Attack (Collins campaign): He delayed his financial disclosure.
- Record: He took a 55-day extension and filed Oct. 5, the first day of early voting. (Maine Monitor; Maine Files)
- Ruling: True. The extension was legal.
Part 3. Collins: her claims vs. her record
1. Claim: She is the Senate's most bipartisan member.
- Record: The Lugar Center–Georgetown index ranked her first for 2023, first 2013–2020, and second in 2021–22. (Lugar Center)
- Ruling: True. We found no 2025 ranking.
2. Claim: Appropriations wins for Maine.
- Record: As chair she secured more than $425 million of Maine's $460 million in 2026 earmarks: 156 projects in all 16 counties. Per person, Maine is second only to Alaska. (Maine Morning Star)
- Ruling: True.
3. Claim: "I have voted with the administration about 72% of the time."
- Record: 72% is CQ Roll Call's party-unity score, votes with fellow Republicans. On votes where Trump took a position, CQ has her at 92%. (Bangor Daily News; PolitiFact)
- Ruling: Partly true. The number exists. It measures party unity, not the administration.
4. Claim: She opposed Trump's tariffs on Canada. (CNN)
- Record: April 2, 2025: yes on ending the 25% Canada tariffs (passed 51–48). October 2025: yes on three more resolutions. April 4, 2025: no on a Democratic amendment to rescind grocery-cost tariffs (failed 46–53). (PolitiFact)
- Ruling: True. One vote went the other way.
5. Claim: She voted against the "One Big Beautiful Bill." (CNN)
- Record: No on final passage July 1, 2025; it passed 51–50 on Vance's tiebreak. She earlier voted to bring it to the floor. (Senate Daily Press; PolitiFact)
- Ruling: True.
6. Claim: "I created the $50 billion rural healthcare fund."
- Record: She introduced the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program in the bill. KFF estimates it will not fully offset $137 billion in state Medicaid cuts. (PolitiFact)
- Ruling: True. The fund does not cancel the cuts.
Part 4. Collins: the attacks vs. her record
1. Attack (Jackson): "Sen. Collins is voting with Donald Trump 96% of the time."
- Record: CQ's current figure is 92%; 96% is from an outdated 2025 analysis. Only two Republicans score lower. She has opposed Trump's position 76 times, second only to Rand Paul. (PolitiFact)
- Ruling: Partly true. She sides with him on most such votes. The number is out of date.
2. Attack (Jackson): She "put people like Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court that took away Roe v. Wade."
- Record: She voted for Kavanaugh, who joined the 5–4 majority ending Roe. Pence was ready to break a tie. She also voted for Kagan and Sotomayor, who dissented. In 2018 she said Kavanaugh told her Roe was rooted in the Constitution; she says she does not regret the vote. (PolitiFact)
- Ruling: Partly true. PolitiFact calls a direct line from her vote to the outcome "misleading."
3. Attack (Jackson): She "advanced the Big, Beautiful Bill out of committee."
- Record: It never went through her committee. She voted to bring it to the floor, then against passage. (PolitiFact)
- Ruling: False. His campaign later said he meant the floor vote.
4. Attack (Jackson ad): When she "had the chance to actually vote to stop Trump's tariffs... she voted NO."
- Record: One no vote (April 4, 2025, party-line amendment). Four votes against the tariffs. PolitiFact: Mostly False. (PolitiFact)
- Ruling: Partly true. The no vote happened. Omitting the other four misstates her record.
5. Attack (Jackson): "Sen. Collins and her husband are making money off of this war."
- Record: Her husband holds $15,001–$50,000 each in Boeing, RTX and ConocoPhillips. Their assets total $4–10 million. Her office says no stocks have traded in his account in over three years. (PolitiFact; Maine Morning Star)
- Ruling: Partly true. The holdings exist and are small. No filing shows a war gain.
6. Attack (Jackson): She "wants to give income tax cuts to the wealthiest people... She supported it in the past." (C-SPAN transcript)
- Record: She voted for the 2017 tax law, passed 51–48 on Dec. 20, 2017. (Senate roll call 323) In 2025 she said, "I strongly support extending the tax relief," then voted against the extension bill over its Medicaid cuts. (NPR)
- Ruling: Partly true. Yes on 2017. No on the 2025 extension.
The scorecard
| Candidate | Item | Ruling |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson (claim) | Wrote drug-board and import laws | True |
| Jackson (claim) | Loggers' bargaining law | True |
| Jackson (claim) | Passed universal school meals | Partly true |
| Jackson (claim) | Stood up to Mills | True (drugs) / Unverified (arbitration) / Partly true (tribal) |
| Jackson (claim) | Voted against 2011 tax cuts | True |
| Jackson (claim) | No corporate PACs or billionaires | Partly true |
| Jackson (claim) | "Logger by trade" | Partly true |
| Attack on Jackson | Rates "fourth highest" | False |
| Attack on Jackson | Voted against LD 1347 | True |
| Attack on Jackson | Anti-abortion record before 2014 | True |
| Attack on Jackson | Committee took corporate and lobbyist money | True (per Free Beacon) |
| Attack on Jackson | Delayed disclosure | True |
| Collins (claim) | Most bipartisan senator | True |
| Collins (claim) | Earmarks for Maine | True |
| Collins (claim) | 72% with the administration | Partly true |
| Collins (claim) | Opposed Canada tariffs | True |
| Collins (claim) | Voted against the "Big Beautiful Bill" | True |
| Collins (claim) | Created the $50B rural fund | True |
| Attack on Collins | 96% with Trump | Partly true |
| Attack on Collins | Kavanaugh took away Roe | Partly true |
| Attack on Collins | Advanced the bill out of committee | False |
| Attack on Collins | Voted NO on stopping tariffs | Partly true |
| Attack on Collins | Profiting from the war | Partly true |
| Attack on Collins | Backed tax cuts for the wealthy | Partly true |
The tally (Rule #42, same test for both):
- Jackson's claims (7): 3 True, 3 Partly true, 1 mixed.
- Attacks on Jackson (5): 4 True (one per the Free Beacon), 1 False.
- Collins's claims (6): 5 True, 1 Partly true.
- Attacks on Collins (6): 5 Partly true, 1 False.
The bottom line
Here's what the record shows. Collins's claims about herself held up better than Jackson's claims about himself: 5 of her 6 were true, compared with 3 of his 7. The attacks went the other way. Four of the five attacks on Jackson were true, but none of the six attacks on Collins was fully true, since five were partly true and one was false. Each side's ads oversold its own candidate or its opponent, and in some cases both. Don't take an ad's word for it, from either camp. Check the vote, the filing and the date. Then decide, and talk to your neighbors about it.
