The American republican senator Susan Collins of Maine suffered a survey before her potential re -election offer as an approach to the 2026 exterprector, with Democrats hoping to dislodge her in the state of Pine Tree.
Why it matters
Collins has continued to obtain a re -election despite Maine which has supported Democrats in the presidential elections since 1992, partly because of its moderate voting file.
But the Democrats hope that a strong national push and a reduced approval of voters during the second administration of President Donald Trump could make her vulnerable next year. The question of whether Collins can maintain the support of the self -employed and moderate democrats will have key implications to find out if it will be re -elected next year.
What to know
Morning Consult published his quarterly survey of senators approval ratings this week and found that Collins was one of the four with negative scores.
According to the sounder, only 38% of the Mainers approve his professional performance, which noted that it was a “record hollow” for Collins. Meanwhile, 54% disapprove of his performance – a high point in the history of the survey, extending until 2017.
This marks a notable drop in the fourth quarter of 2024, when 47% of the Mainers approved Collins and 44% disapproved, according to Morning Consult. In the third quarter of 2024, 50% of the Mainers approved and 42% disapproved Collins.
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The morning consultation polls are based on a “three -month withdrawal” of the responses of daily monitoring surveys among the registered voters.
Collins won the last re -election in 2020 against the Democrat Sara Gideon. At the time, most surveys suggested that Gideon had an advance, but Collins eventually won with just over 50% of the votes.
The only other senators with negative approval ratings in the survey were the Senators of Gop Joni Ernst of Iowa, Ron Johnson by Wisconsin and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Despite the hopes of a blue wave, the Democrats are confronted with a difficult Senate card, making the seat of Collins a must while they aim to regain control of the upper chamber of the Congress. In addition to the Maine – which argued the former vice -president Kamala Harris of around 7 percentage points – north of Caroline, which Trump carried about 3 percentage points, is considered another opportunity of the Democrats.
Who could Susan Collins face in 2026 in mid-term?
On the democratic side, two candidates have declared their intention to present themselves. David Costello, who ran in 2024 and held several different positions in Maryland, including the acting secretary of the Department of the State of the Environment, presents himself again. Jordan Wood, who was a chief of staff to the former representative Katie Porter, a California democrat, is also underway.
Governor Janet Mills did not exclude the race either. Some Democrats consider it their best chance of winning, because it has also won the state by comfortable margins.
However, the latest approval notes from the Governor of Morning Consion also provided disturbing news to Mills, although it is still closely above the water with the Mainers, marking a +2 approval rating.
“Janet Mills of Maine is limited to term as governor and considered one of the best options in the Democratic Party to challenge the moderate republican senator Susan Collins in the mid-term elections of next year. But she is also the most unpopular democratic governor in the country, and one of the only people to lose popularity since the last quarter of 2024,” said the report.
Collins moved away from Trump, voting against his signature “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on Medicaid Cuts. She has long manifested herself as the most moderate republican in the Senate, which helped her gain elections.
A Pan Atlantic research survey, which questioned 840 probable voters from Maine from May 12 to 26, had better news for Collins. In this survey, 49% of respondents considered it favorably, while only 45% considered it unfavorably.
A spokesperson for Collins underlined this survey when reached by Nowsweek.
Conversely, a survey of the University of New Hampshire published last month revealed that only 14% of the Mainers consider Collins favorably, while 57% consider it unfavorably. 26% additional was neutral. This survey questioned 846 residents of Maine from June 19 to 23 and had a margin of error of more or less than 3.4 percentage points.
What people say
Nick Puglia, regional press secretary of the senatorial national republican committee, previously said Nowsweek:: “No one is fighting stronger for Maine than Susan Collins, and she continues to win large victories such as social security protection for more than 25,000 mainers and millions of Americans.”
Amy Walter, editor -in -chief of Cook Political Report, wrote on X: “For all discussions on democles opportunities in NC, TX and even AI, red lights are really soaring in Maine, where the morning consultation survey shows that Trump underwater by 17 pts. Sen. Collins at -16. And yet, no serious DEM dives to challenge it.”
What happens next
Collins had not made an official announcement on his re -election offer, but told CNN in May that it was her “inclination to run” and that she “prepares to do so”.
The Cook Political Report classifies the race as “lean republican”, which means that it is “considered competitive”, but that Collins “has an advantage”. The Sabato crystal ball also classifies the race as a penchant to the Republicans.
