Susan Collins takes steps toward 2026 run as big-name Democrats weigh potential challenge
Democrats have one big hope as they scramble to find a top-tier recruit against GOP Sen. Susan Collins in Maine: Maybe she won't run at all.
Collins, the lone New England Senate Republican, who is at the peak of her influence over 28 years in the chamber, has fended off one Democratic foe after another in hard-fought races to hang on to her seat. And again, her seat is pivotal in the Democrats' uphill climb back to the majority.
But Collins, 72, has yet to make a formal announcement that she'll run in what will almost certainly be a bruising battle for a sixth term. And high-profile potential Democratic candidates, like Gov. Janet Mills and Rep. Jared Golden, are weighing their next moves as they await the veteran senator's final decision.
In an interview with CNN, Collins signaled she does plan to run but wasn't ready to say so officially.
'It's certainly my inclination to run and I'm preparing to do so,' Collins told CNN late last week. 'I very much enjoy serving the people of Maine. I've obviously not made a formal announcement because it's too early for that.'
National Republicans believe that Collins — a moderate who chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and sits in the bluest GOP-held seat in the nation — will indeed be on the ballot next November. But if Collins decides against another run, it would transform the race and give Democrats their best chance at flipping a seat in the midterms.
Yet if Collins does run, Democrats insist they can still flip the seat, buoyed by public and private polling that shows the incumbent facing new weaknesses because of the unpopularity of President Donald Trump and the expectation that it will be a difficult midterm for Republicans — as is historically the case for a president's party.
But they have one big problem. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his team still have not yet landed a top-tier Democratic challenger against the famously formidable Collins.
'I'm very hopeful we will have the strongest candidate possible for Maine,' Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who leads the Senate Democrats' campaign arm, told CNN. 'I'm bullish on Maine.'
Behind the scenes, Democratic leaders have begun their outreach to key candidates.
Schumer has personally spoken about the race with Mills, the 77-year-old governor who recently clashed with Trump over issues including transgender athletes this year, according to two sources with knowledge of the conversations. Mills, those sources said, was noncommittal on a run and has publicly downplayed the idea that she may try to take on Collins.
Another Democrat the party sees as a formidable challenger to Collins: Golden, a 42-year-old centrist who's urged his party to be less elitist and more open to Trump.
But there's a catch. Many Democrats do not believe Golden would run against Collins out of principle, since she is his former boss — a highly unusual position in hyperpartisan Washington. Golden once worked as a staffer in Collins' DC office and retains close ties to the senator. (In Collins' last race, Golden remained neutral to preserve his personal relationship with the senator.)
Asked about whether he would run against Collins, Golden quipped: 'Is she running?'
Golden's future has been closely watched in Washington for another key reason. His House seat is one of Republican Speaker Mike Johnson's top targets in an extremely narrow battlefield in 2026. And in Washington, no one knows exactly which office he'll be seeking in 2026 — House, Senate or governor, according to half a dozen sources involved in congressional campaigns.
'According to the press, I'm running for all of them,' Golden said in an interview, when asked about his path in 2026. He would not reveal his preference and said the decision is 'not top of mind' because he is focused on his job in the House. 'I'm on my own timeline,' he told CNN.
Democrats are tracking one other candidate already in the race: Jordan Wood, who previously served as chief of staff to former Rep. Katie Porter. But whether Wood — a novice candidate who calls himself a 'pro-democracy advocate' — could run toe-to-toe with Collins remains unclear.
Asked about possible candidates, Gillibrand declined to elaborate, telling CNN: 'I'm not going to tell you. We talk to lots of people.'
But Collins' complicated relationship with Trump adds another twist to the race — especially if the president continues to attack her, something that could help her appeal to independents but turn off MAGA-aligned voters in Maine.
Collins voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial after the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack and has long refused to say whom she voted for in the 2020 election — while writing in Nikki Haley in the 2024 election and publicly announcing she wouldn't support Trump in 2016. This year, she voted against some of his nominees, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel.
But she has cast key votes to help advance her party's agenda over the years and some of Trump's most controversial picks, whether it was to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. And now in the 53-47 GOP-led Senate, Collins remains one of the few swing votes — including over Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' that is expected to include deep cuts to an array of federal programs.
Asked about how much harder Trump would make her race, Collins pointed to her own brand in the state.
'I always run on my own record, and that's what I will do this time,' Collins told CNN.
Like Collins, whatever Golden decides could determine the fate of his ultra-competitive House seat.
With Golden's decision unclear, a high-profile Republican candidate — former Maine Gov. Paul LePage — jumped into the race for the sprawling northern Maine district last week.
The 76-year-old former governor is a lightning rod in Maine politics. And he's now seeking a comeback after his loss to Mills for governor in 2022.
Despite some of LePage's contentious past statements on Trump, national Republicans believe his high name ID and fundraising ability will help them lock down a seat that's eluded them for the past four cycles.
'We'll pick up Maine-02 whether Jared Golden runs or not,' Rep. Richard Hudson, the House GOP campaign chief, said. 'We came close last time. The district went for Trump. It's our district.'
Asked if he'd feel better if Golden didn't run, Hudson said: 'Sure. Open seat is always easier.'
House Democrats are eager to keep Golden in their chamber in a midterm cycle in which every single seat matters to determine which party holds the gavel come January 2027.
Rep. Brad Schneider, a senior Illinois Democrat involved in House races, said the party would still attempt to hold Golden's seat if he decided not to run.
'No one's irreplaceable. People retire, people move on,' Schneider told CNN. But he offered this advice to his fellow Democrat: 'If he asks my opinion, I want to keep working with Jared.'
CNN's Ted Barrett, Casey Riddle and Alison Main contributed to this report.
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