Collins and Jackson Compete in Tight Maine Senate Race Days Before Election
Photo: The New York TimesRepublican Sen. Susan Collins is facing Democrat Troy Jackson in a closely watched Maine Senate race, with Election Day on Tuesday. Collins said in a Fox News interview on Sunday, two days before the vote, that she has never seen a campaign with so many outright lies. She accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party of pushing false attack ads against her and other Republican candidates. She cited one ad about Jeffrey Epstein and said two colleagues in tough races told her they faced virtually identical ads.
Polling shows a tight contest. The latest Fox News poll has the two candidates tied at 49%, while a final YouGov poll before Tuesday's midterms puts Jackson ahead of Collins by 5 percentage points. Collins defended her bipartisan record and said she is more optimistic than ever about defeating Jackson. Democrats are trying to flip the seat, which is among the most closely contested in the country. Collins is a long-serving senator who has directed millions of dollars to communities across Maine.
Fox News, the right-leaning outlet, leads with Collins's own voice, using a headline that repeats her charge of "outright lies" and names Schumer. It features her bipartisan record, her optimism and the 49%-49% tie, and presents the attack ads as part of a Schumer playbook. Newsmax also covers the race but leads with a poll, headlining Jackson's widening lead in the YouGov survey, the one Democratic-favorable number in this set. The New York Times, the left-leaning outlet, takes a different approach with a profile headlined as Collins always keeping score. It stresses the money she has delivered to every corner of Maine and says people in the state think it best not to get on her bad side. The Times excerpt carries no polling, no Schumer criticism and no Epstein ad. Both sides focus on Collins's standing in Maine, but they differ on whether to emphasize her accusations, the polls or her personal style. Alternative and independent outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing.
How the sides differ Right sources stress Collins's attack on Schumer and conflicting poll numbers; left sources profile her as a senator who delivers funding yet punishes opponents; alternative sources had not covered it.
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The New York Times profiles Collins as a long-serving senator who has delivered millions of dollars to Maine but is known to hold grudges, focusing on her personal reputation rather than polls or ads.
Not covering this story. None of the alternative or independent outlets Crosswire tracks has reported it yet. What one side leaves out can be as telling as what the others report.
Fox News leads with Collins's accusation that Schumer's Democrats run false attack ads, citing a 49%-49% tie; Newsmax leads with a YouGov poll showing Jackson up 5 points.