GOP Sen. Collins wins hardest-fought race of her career in Maine

The Associated Press
November 4, 2020 at 7:13PM
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, addresses supporters just after midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, addresses supporters just after midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (Robert F. Bukaty/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Latest on Senate races in the 2020 election (all times local):

1:51 p.m.

Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has won the hardest-fought race of her career, turning back a challenge by Democrat Sara Gideon and surviving to serve a fifth term.

Collins, one of four candidates on the ballot, won a majority of first-place votes. That meant no additional tabulation rounds were necessary under Maine's ranked choice voting system.

Gideon has conceded, telling supporters on Wednesday that she called Collins and congratulated her on the win.

Collins long touted herself in the fiercely independent state as a bipartisan centrist who's willing to work with both parties to get things done.

But opponents accused her of being an enabler of President Donald Trump, citing her votes to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and for tax cuts that critics said favored the rich.

about the writer

about the writer

More from No Section

See More
FILE -- A rent deposit slot at an apartment complex in Tucker, Ga., on July 21, 2020. As an eviction crisis has seemed increasingly likely this summer, everyone in the housing market has made the same plea to Washington: Send money — lots of it — that would keep renters in their homes and landlords afloat. (Melissa Golden/The New York Times) ORG XMIT: XNYT58
Melissa Golden/The New York Times

It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.