Defeating GOP incumbent Susan Collins and flipping this Maine Senate seat is one of MVP’s top priorities this year. Collins has been in office for nearly 30 years, and despite being close in the past, ousting her has eluded us. The political environment gives us a shot this year, but it is absolutely not in the bag — and MVP partners’ efforts could literally determine the outcome. (More on that below.)
The Cook Political Report moved this race from “Lean Republican” to “Toss-Up.” Polling aggregators Silver Bulletin and Decision Desk HQ show Democrat Troy Jackson narrowly ahead of Collins, by 2.5 and 1.4 points, respectively. Here’s the thing: In 2020, Democrat Sara Gideon also narrowly led Collins in the polls, only for Collins to win by 9 points — even as Trump lost the state by 9 points. So we can’t take any of these narrow polling leads for granted.
And in a truly unnerving development for anyone who cares about the fate of the Senate, the latest New York Times/Siena poll (widely seen as the highest-quality public poll out there) shows Collins ahead by 3 points, despite Maine voters wanting a Democratic-controlled Senate by 12 points. NYT’s own pollster, Nate Cohn, cautions that the poll could be an outlier. On the other hand, he notes, “Ms. Collins may be leading for a simple reason: People like her better and think she would be a better senator.”
The point is this: We underestimate Susan Collins’ popularity at our peril, and Troy Jackson needs all the help he can get from the independent community organizing groups that have voters’ trust.
And that’s where MVP partners come in.
Photo: Maine Labor Climate Council organizers advocate for policies working-class Mainers need.
The Contract with Maine’s Working Class
We’ve all heard of a union contract, but what about a contract between candidates and the working-class voters they aim to represent? That’s exactly what MVP partner Maine Labor Climate Council (MLCC) and other Maine labor groups (Maine AFL-CIO, Maine SEIU Local 1989, IAM Union, and others) have done.
After talking with thousands of working-class Mainers about the issues that most impact their lives, they launched the Contract with Maine’s Working Class. The Contract has become a cornerstone of their program to elect Troy Jackson to the Senate.
The Contract includes 11 demands based on what working-class Mainers say they need from anyone elected to office in the state. From tackling soaring healthcare costs to providing more affordable housing, regulating unchecked AI, and making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share, the Contract is comprehensive and puts working-class needs front and center.
Just ask Troy Jackson. He adopted the Contract with Maine’s Working Class and has been talking with working-class voters across the state, including through MLCC’s mobile home park organizing campaign. As an example of how candidates often take their cues from popular movements, Jackson's campaign platform focuses on the same issues included in the Contract: taxing billionaires and big corporations, Medicare for All, and tax cuts for the working class.
Dozens of unions and labor groups have endorsed Jackson, and MLCC organizers are using the Contract’s demands to show working-class voters that he is the best choice.
We just featured MLCC Executive Director Francis Eanes on our September national briefing, “Swinging for the Senate.” Francis shared that the path to victory starts with talking to working-class Mainers about the issues that matter most to them. MLCC has recruited several of the voters they organized to join MLCC’s paid field team, knocking doors and talking to neighbors in their own mobile home parks about the Contract with Maine’s Working Class and the need to elect Jackson.
With the fate of the Senate potentially on the line, “late” money still coming in could make all the difference: With $25,000 more, MLCC could expand their mobile home organizing to five more parks. With $75,000 more, they could fully fund their door-knocking and mail program to mobilize working-class voters for Troy Jackson.
Screenshot: MVP ally Communications Workers of America is leading the campaign for the Contract with Texas’s Working Class, which Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico has signed.
Taking the Working-Class Gospel to the Texas Senate Race
The Contract with Maine’s Working Class has been so effective that it has spread to other states, including Texas, where MVP ally Communications Workers of America is leading the campaign for a Contract with Texas’s Working Class. Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa have already signed the contract, showing working-class voters in the Lone Star State which candidates are ready to fight for them.
Like Jackson, Talarico is campaigning on the issues working-class Texans care about: making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share, increasing wages for workers, and lowering the cost of healthcare, housing, and groceries.
This is what building a movement is all about: launching a successful organizing and electoral strategy grounded in voters’ actual needs and solutions, then replicating and adapting it elsewhere to scale our collective impact.
Thanks to Maine organizers like Maine Labor Climate Council, MVP partners and allies have a real shot at flipping the Senate and delivering meaningful progress for working-class people.
