Democratic hopeful Troy Jackson is facing pressure to disclose his campaign donors in the Maine Senate race, with early voting now underway in the key midterm battle. While on the campaign trail, Republican candidate and the five-term incumbent Senator Susan Collins has scrutinized Jackson over his financial disclosures. In a statement to Newsweek shared on Tuesday, Collins campaign spokesperson Blake Kernen said, “Troy has pledged to 'always disclose my campaign’s donors fully and transparently'—but we are well into early voting and he hasn’t provided any insight into who’s bankrolling his campaign.” “All we know is that he spent 14 days in September at out-of-state fundraisers with big dollar donors.
He also pledged not to take corporate PAC money, but ran a PAC that accepted corporate donations as recently as two years ago,” Kernen added. Later on Tuesday, during the state's third Senate debate, Jackson was pressed by Collins on the topic. He replied, “I’ll give you the report tomorrow morning.
We see yours, and I know there’s no billionaires funding me. So, I’ll give you the report tomorrow and we’ll talk about it on Thursday.” Jackson wrote in a post on X in June, “Dirigo, our state motto, means “I lead.” In the spirit of that motto, I pledge to lead for Maine voters by rejecting attempts to buy influence through unlimited personal wealth and dark money.” “That means rejecting all money from corporate PACs, AIPAC, and lobbyists from Big Oil and Big Pharma,” the Democratic hopeful said. The Maine Senate race is one of the most competitive and important in the 2026 midterms.
Democrats need to defend all their seats and flip four others to take control of the chamber. They have long thought of Collins as a flip target, but the Republican has been a resilient and popular Senator, serving five terms in a primarily blue state. Trump lost Maine all three times he ran for president, including by nearly 7 points in 2024.
Collins is now the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate. She finds herself in a race that most handicappers rule as a toss-up as she contends with President Donald Trump’s falling approval ratings and an electorate souring on the GOP, according to polls. The deadline for third-quarter federal campaign expenditure filings is late on Thursday, October 15.
Collins has also not yet released her report for the same period. Generally, Senate candidates must file a personal financial disclosure report with the Senate and quarterly campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission. Those filings typically come in advance of the election.
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