Tied at 49%, Collins Calls Maine Race a Battle Over 'Outright Lies'

With the Maine Senate race deadlocked at 49% for both candidates, Senator Susan Collins is attacking the Democratic Party for what she calls a systematic effort to mislead voters. The latest Fox News poll shows her and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson statistically tied. The data was released on Sunday, two days before Election Day. Collins argues that the campaign is not being decided by local issues, but by a coordinated wave of false advertising.

Collins placed the blame for the strategy on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. During a Sunday interview with Fox News, she claimed the ads targeting her are nearly identical to those running against other Republican lawmakers in tight races. She specifically pointed to an advertisement regarding Jeffrey Epstein as an example of the "outrageous" claims. According to Collins, two other Republican colleagues in competitive districts have run into the same commercial.

"One of the outrageous, completely false ads against me had to do with Jeffrey Epstein. And it turns out, in talking to two of my colleagues who are in tough races, that they had virtually identical ads run against them. So this is part of Chuck Schumer's playbook," Collins said. She added that while there are real policy differences between her and Jackson, the volume of misinformation is unprecedented. "I've never seen a campaign with so many outright lies. It's very frustrating," she said.

The senator framed the conflict as an attempt to nationalize a state-level election. She said her opponent and his allies are trying to shift voter attention away from Maine-specific concerns and toward national partisan battles. "It's certainly an attempt by my opponent and Chuck Schumer and their allies to nationalize this race," Collins said. She positioned herself as a centrist alternative in a Senate where moderate voices are dwindling. "Unfortunately, a lot of them have given up and retired or decided they just didn't want to run again. And that's one reason I am running again," she said.

Collins also challenged the perception of her voting alignment with the White House. She disputed a figure claiming she voted with President Donald Trump 95% of the time, noting that statistic relies on a limited sample. Collins stated that when looking at a broader sample of 90% of votes, the alignment drops to 72%. She cited 138 instances where she voted against the president's policies. "We need more people who are willing to work across party lines. That is really important," she said.

Jackson has previously told Fox News that he believes he has a "good shot" at winning the seat. Collins, however, reported feeling a strong response during her recent community visits across the state. "I'm feeling very optimistic based on the great response I get in visiting communities all over the state," she said. The final vote is scheduled for Tuesday.

The two candidates will continue campaigning in Maine until the polls open on Tuesday. The race is currently too close for either side to claim a clear advantage based on the most recent polling data.