Susan Collins says she was 'caught up in the Trump tsunami' after losing Senate race
WASHINGTON, DC: Republican Sen Susan Collins, now on her way out, pointed to the political blowback against President Donald Trump as the main reason she lost her seat in the midterms.
“I was caught up in the Trump tsunami,” the longtime senator admitted after conceding to Democrat Troy Jackson. Collins tried to put distance between herself and Trump, but she said her efforts just didn’t sway enough voters in Maine.
Chatting with The New York Times, Collins looked back on a tough election night for Republicans. Democrats gained seven Senate seats, and the totals could climb even higher depending on the final counts in Alaska and Mississippi.
Susan Collins says Trump backlash swept away Republican incumbents
“I was caught up in the Trump tsunami that swept away many incumbent Republican senators who have served their states well for many years and really care about our country,” Collins told The New York Times.
Collins had weathered tough elections before, but the 2026 midterms hit differently. Trump’s sinking approval and his administration’s unpopular agenda cast a long shadow, dragging down Republicans everywhere.
Throughout the campaign, the Maine senator tried to set herself apart from Trump, insisting she stood on her own rather than marching in lockstep. She pointed to public disagreements, hoping voters would see her independence. It wasn’t enough. The national mood just wasn’t on her side this time.
Collins eventually conceded to Jackson, the Democrat, closing the chapter on her time in the Senate. Her loss wasn’t an outlier, Republicans all over faced setbacks as Democrats picked up Senate seats and mounted a real challenge to Republican control in Congress.
Susan Collins says her impeachment vote against Trump was not enough
Collins also pointed to her vote to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial as evidence that she had broken with the president: "Everybody ignores the fact that I voted to convict him in the second impeachment trial. What bigger break could there be? It is never enough. I want results, and they want angry rhetoric.”
Her remarks reflect the difficulty faced by some Republican lawmakers who have tried to maintain a degree of independence from Trump while remaining part of a party increasingly shaped by his political influence.
Collins often highlighted the times she disagreed with the president, but the midterm results made it clear that didn’t protect her from voters’ backlash against Trump. Her loss felt like a turning point for Maine too; this was a state where she’d managed to win tough Senate races again and again, but not this time.
