Susan Collins Projected Winner In Maine Senate Race

Updated at 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time: AUGUSTA, ME — Incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins is the projected winner in her re-election bid against Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, according to The Associated Press. The longtime Maine senator has not been able to sustain a majority as vote totals continue to come in.

With 77 percent of the votes reported, Collins has the lead with 333,501 votes (49.9 percent), according to the live results from the New York Times. Gideon is at 290,123 votes, accounting for 43.4 percent of the votes. Independent candidate Lisa Savage has 4.3 percent of the vote.

The Maine race was one of 35 in play in the U.S. Senate. As of late Tuesday, Democrats appeared to win over two seats currently held by Republicans while losing one.

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Polls and recent political analysis showed Collins was in danger of losing the seat she has held for almost 24 years.

She has suffered from two recent trends, according to David Byler, a data analyst and political columnist for The Washington Post.

“In the short term, the decline of ticket-splitting has hurt her chances at re-election," Byler wrote. "In the long term, the GOP’s turn from patrician moderation to populism is squeezing Collins — and many others like her — out of the party.”

Collins had fallen behind Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, by 4 percentage points — 47 percent to 43 percent — in the RealClearPolitics polling average just days before the election.

Because the vice president is the presiding officer of the Senate and casts tie-breaking votes, Democrats need to pick up three seats to flip the Senate if former Vice President Joe Biden wins and running mate Kamala Harris presides over the chamber. If President Donald Trump wins, Democrats need to pick up four additional seats to gain control.

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