Disgraced former Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D), whose political aspirations were ended over rape and sexual misconduct allegations, had an agitated exchange with a reporter while working again as an oysterman.
High-profile races that will determine which party controls the Senate for the next two years are extremely tight, according to a new CNN poll, as Maine and Kansas remain close and Democrats extended their leads in Texas and Michigan.
Democrats, who are widely projected to win a majority in the House of Representatives, need to flip four Senate seats from red to blue in order to gain a 51-seat majority, protecting their majority from the vice presidential tiebreaker.
Maine
In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is the only Republican incumbent running in a state that went for Kamala Harris in 2024.
Collins' Democratic challenger is Troy Jackson, the former president of the state Senate who jumped into the race as a replacement for the previous nominee, scandal-plagued Graham Platner.
The race has no clear frontrunner, according to the CNN poll, though Jackson holds a marginal lead.
Forty-nine percent of respondents told the outlet's pollsters they favored Jackson, compared to 45% for Collins. While Jackson is slightly ahead, at least 12.5% of voters say they could still change their minds.
Respondents tied Collins to her party less than any other Republican running for Senate in the nation, with 46% of respondents saying they believe she would choose her constituents over the Republican Party.
With Collins managing to distance herself from Trump, her race has largely become a referendum on her own career. Three-quarters of respondents from either party told CNN pollsters that their choice was motivated more by Collins than Jackson.
In Michigan, despite warnings from some mainstream Democrats and the state's Jewish community, Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed is building a lead over former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
Respondents favored El-Sayed at 49% compared to the 42% who favored Rogers, according to the poll. CNN's previous poll, released in early September, showed El-Sayed with a 47% share compared to Rogers' 44%, showing the former public health director El-Sayed building on his lead.
The Democrat has consolidated his party's support after a contentious primary with Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. Ninty-five percent of likely Democrat voters say they'll punch the ticket for El-Sayed, up from 90% in the September poll.
Rogers voters, meanwhile, are motivated more by dislike for the Democratic candidate than faith in the Republican. 57% told CNN pollsters they were voting against El-Sayed, up from 41% in a previous poll.
Rogers' favorability has also taken a hit, moving from 58% in September to 50% in October.
Texas
Texas State Rep. James Talarico also built upon a narrow lead over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, despite Talarico's extended absence from the campaign trail in early October.
Forty-nine percent of likely voters told pollsters they'd vote for Talarico, while 43% said they would vote for Paxton, according to the poll.
Texas, a state that has voted for exactly one new Democratic Senate candidate into office since Lyndon B. Johnson vacated his seat to become vice president, also voted more strongly for Trump in 2024 than in either of his previous elections.
Despite the typically steadfast support for the GOP in the Lone Star State, Talarico is riding a wave of favorability and minority support to remain in pole position five days before polls close.
CNN's poll says 64% of likely voters of color support Talarico, including 22% of the cohort that voted for Trump in 2024.
Talarico is also leading Paxton in favorability within their own parties. 24% of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Paxton, according to the poll. Just 2% of Democrats, meanwhile, view Talarico unfavorably.
Kansas
In Kansas, a state which Trump won by 16 percentage points in 2024, incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., is falling behind Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton.
Forty-nine percent of likely voters say they support Hamilton, 45% say they support Marshall.
Hamilton, a relatively unknown candidate, is far outperforming his own party in a state where Democrats are broadly unfavorable. 57% of voters view the Democratic Party as unfavorable while only 38% of them feel the same about Hamilton.
Like Republicans in Michigan, likely voters in Kansas appear to be more highly motivated by a dislike for one candidate than strong positive feelings for another. 59% of Hamilton backers say they're motivated by opposition to Marshall.
Hamilton, a Christian pastor, is even drawing support from across the aisle. Roughly 12% of Republicans and Republican-leaning likely voters say they support Hamilton, according to the poll.
CNN conducted its polling via telephone between Oct. 20 and Oct. 27. Registered voters were randomly sampled, according to the outlet. 838 likely voters were considered in Kansas, 783 in Maine, 768 in Michigan and 923 in Texas. CNN tabulated its margins of sampling error at plus or minus 4.5% for Kansas and Maine, 4.7% in Michigan and 4.2% in Texas.
Fox News Digital contacted all eight campaigns for further comment.
Maine high school girls will speak publicly about competing against transgender athletes Monday as parents prepare to submit nearly 5,000 additional signatures in a renewed effort to put restrictions on girls’ sports and school facilities before voters.
The Nov. 2 news conference in Augusta comes one day before Maine’s closely watched Senate election, bringing renewed attention to the issue that triggered a confrontation between President Donald Trump and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in early 2025.
The Protect Girls Sports in Maine ballot committee is seeking a place on the 2027 ballot, after its earlier petition fell 532 valid signatures short of qualifying for this year’s election.
Two female athletes from Windham High School and Fryeburg Academy are scheduled to participate alongside parents, representatives of Alliance Defending Freedom and the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, known as ICONS.
"It’s appalling and shameful what these girls and hundreds of others have endured in Maine, and we are so glad they reached out for support," ICONS co-founder Kim Jones said in a statement ahead of the event. "Their stories are a historical dark mark on Maine’s treatment of its women and girls."
"We are proud to stand alongside these young female athletes and their families to unapologetically say that women and girls deserve fair and safe sports, as well as privacy and dignity in places of undress," Jones continued. "There should be no male students on girls’ teams, and no male students in girls’ restrooms and locker rooms."
The initiative, "An Act to Designate School Sports Participation and Facilities by Sex," would establish requirements based on students’ sex as recorded on their original birth certificates for participation in designated school sports and access to bathrooms and other private spaces. It would also allow students to sue schools over violations.
Leyland Streiff, the ballot committee’s principal officer and a leader of Maine Girl Dads, said approximately 100 volunteers collected the additional signatures over the past month.
"Despite needing only 532 more signatures to make the 2027 ballot, the committee is submitting almost 5,000," Streiff said in the event announcement.
The signatures would still require review before the initiative could qualify.
The renewed push follows months of litigation over the original petition. According to Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court, organizers submitted 79,692 signatures in February, and election officials initially determined that enough were valid to move the proposal forward.
A subsequent challenge resulted in a revised determination leaving the petition below the required 67,682 valid signatures. The dispute included 1,520 signatures collected by four nonresident circulators who had not timely consented to Maine courts’ jurisdiction. The state’s highest court upheld their invalidation July 10.
Organizers say they pursued a federal court challenge while collecting additional signatures to advance the initiative for 2027.
Retired professional soccer player Carly Smolak, who will appear with ICONS, said the effort concerns recognition of female athletes’ accomplishments.
"I am honored to stand beside these courageous soccer players to stand up for the right of every female athlete in Maine to know that her hard work, dedication and accomplishments will be honored and recognized, not overshadowed," Smolak said in the announcement.
The event returns attention to a debate that put Maine at the center of national scrutiny in February 2025, when a transgender Greely High School athlete won the girls’ Class B indoor pole-vault championship. Greely won the girls’ team championship by one point.
On Feb. 21, Trump confronted Mills at a White House governors’ event over Maine’s refusal to follow his executive order barring transgender athletes from female sports. Trump threatened to withhold federal funding, while Mills said she would follow state and federal law.
"See you in court," Mills told him. The Maine Principals’ Association maintained that its participation policy followed the Maine Human Rights Act, which protects against discrimination based on gender identity.
Mills defended her response as a stand against presidential overreach, arguing that Trump could not withhold congressionally appropriated funding to force the state to comply with his demands.
Now, the renewed ballot effort coincides with a Senate contest featuring candidates with differing records on transgender participation in sports.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins faces Democratic former state Senate President Troy Jackson in the Nov. 3, 2026, election, a race that could help determine control of the Senate.
Collins voted in March 2025 to advance the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Explaining her support for a similar amendment in March 2026, she said her longstanding position was that "transgender athletes should not compete in girls’ and women’s athletics."
Jackson voted in June 2023 to accept a committee recommendation against passing LD 930, legislation seeking to restrict participation in women’s and girls’ scholastic sports. In an April 2026 questionnaire during his gubernatorial campaign, he also answered "No" to a question asking whether he supported a transgender sports ban and dismantling other protections under the Maine Human Rights Act.
Jones said advocates intend to continue pressing the issue through elections and other avenues.
"The feelings of boys do not take precedence in the areas and opportunities set aside to let girls thrive," she said. "An ever-growing wave of public support exists to ensure that girls in blue states have a light at the end of the tunnel."
"The men who want to protect their daughters, the young female athletes, and the public are not going to let up," Jones continued. "The courts, the voting booth, the media and every other available tool will be used to ensure that these girls are not shoved into the shadows to be harassed and ignored."
The news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern on Monday, Nov. 2, at the Capitol Building’s Welcome Center in Augusta, with a short question-and-answer session following prepared remarks.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is locked in a tight race against her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, according to a new survey. The Marist University poll, released one week before the midterms, found the incumbent trailing Jackson by 2 percentage points among likely voters in the state — a lead that falls within the survey’s margin…
A Platner superfan’s reluctance to support the Democrat now running against Senator Susan Collins reflects the party’s challenges navigating left-wing passions.
Democrats are targeting G.O.P. strongholds that could set them up for new majorities. But if they don’t win those races now, it could be a long time before they have another chance.
Protesters outside of an event for Senator Roger Marshall in Topeka, Kan. Soaring fuel costs and economic struggles have made some Republican senators like Mr. Marshall vulnerable on their home turf.
The ad opens with James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Texas, seated at a desk, apparently rewriting the Book of Genesis from the Old Testament. “In the beginning,” Talarico says, hunched over as he writes, “God was nonbinary. And was not Christian. And God said: ‘Let there be six genders’; and there were.”
Collins, locked in a tight race with Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, issued a statement saying she'd spoken with Trump's top trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick "about the toll tariffs are taking on Maine families, businesses, farmers, and growers.''
After visiting all 50 US states, I'm often asked which ones I'd recommend to travelers.
Emily Hart
Over the past decade, I've traveled solo to all 50 US states and most major US national parks.
Although I've found beauty in every state, there are some that I want to visit over and over again.
I love traveling to places like New Mexico, Montana, New Hampshire, and Arizona.
Over the past decade, I've successfully visited all 50 US states solo, and have even made it to most of the major US national parks along the way. Because of this journey, I'm often asked which states I'd recommend to travelers.
Although most international travelers gravitate toward states like Florida and New York, I've found fantastic beauty and history in every state.
However, these are the 10 I always return to.
New Mexico boasts a surprising variety of stunning landscapes.
Emily Hart
New Mexico is always at the top of my list of recommendations. Nicknamed "the land of enchantment," it lives up to its moniker — and then some.
Those who haven't visited New Mexico may think of the state as a mostly barren desert, but it's actually the diverse landscapes that keep me coming back.
From the otherworldly dunes of White Sands National Park to the snow-capped Sangre de Cristo Mountains, there's beauty to be found around every corner.
Outside the natural beauty, the state is chock full of history, art, food, wine, and culture.
California is full of diverse landscapes and experiences.
Emily Hart
Every time I visit California, I feel like I'm entering a completely different reality.
The sheer size and diversity of the state are impressive, and it has gorgeous beaches, cities, forests, deserts, mountains, and even volcanoes.
I love road-tripping up the coast, visiting Yosemite National Park, taking a boat to the Channel Islands, and wine tasting in places like Napa and Sonoma.
Montana is a must-visit state for any outdoor enthusiast.
Emily Hart
With its vast open spaces, majestic mountains, and endless opportunities for outdoor adventure, Montana is a must-visit state for any outdoor enthusiast.
The state is home to the breathtaking Glacier National Park and parts of Yellowstone National Park. The sky is vast and open, the mountains are towering, and the lack of development makes me feel like I'm entering another world entirely.
I've returned to West Virginia multiple times.
Emily Hart
Although it may not get as much attention as some of the other states on this list, I've returned to West Virginia multiple times since my first visit.
The state's natural beauty is stunning, from New River Gorge National Park to ample lush forests, underground caverns, historic small towns, and over 200 waterfalls.
Wisconsin is home to beautiful scenery and great dining options.
Emily Hart
Wisconsin has so much more than first meets the eye, from the natural beauty of the Apostle Islands and the 15,000 lakes in the state to the classic cheese curds, breweries, and wineries that dot the landscape.
I love spending time along the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, dining at one of the state's famous supper clubs, and exploring the many Wisconsin state parks.
There's no place quite like the Maine coast.
Emily Hart
There's so much to love about Maine, but my favorite part of the state is the coast. With jagged and dramatic cliffs, lighthouses, and lobster shacks, visiting the Maine coast is an unforgettable experience.
It's easy to find peace in the state that sees the first sunrise of the year and is home to Acadia National Park, which is one of the country's most-popular national parks.
I love to road trip up the coast, stopping in beautiful towns like Kennebunkport, Bar Harbour, and Lubec.
As my home state, Colorado will always hold a special place in my heart.
Emily Hart
I couldn't write a list like this without including my home state of Colorado. The state has so much to offer, from beautiful views to fun activities.
On the Front Range, I enjoy hiking in Boulder and exploring Cheyenne Cañon. I like to spend the night at the The Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs before heading over to Great Sand Dunes National Park.
In the Rockies, I love driving Independence Pass to Aspen, as well as exploring the underrated Grand Mesa, which is the biggest flat-top mountain in the world. I also enjoy taking road trips to the charming mountain towns of Telluride, Buena Vista, and Steamboat Springs.
No matter where you find yourself in Colorado, there's no shortage of incredible natural beauty and outdoor adventure.
New Hampshire boasts some of the best skiing and hiking in the Northeast.
Emily Hart
The Northeast is famous for its fall foliage, but I can't help but think that New Hampshire is sometimes overshadowed by its neighbors, Maine and Vermont.
I was stunned by its natural beauty during my first trip to the state. From the White Mountains to Franconia Notch State Park, the state boasts some of the best skiing and hiking in the Northeast.
Utah is home to five major national parks.
Emily Hart
Utah is a state that you have to see to believe. With five major national parks, 46 state parks, 15 ski resorts, and hidden gems at every turn — you'll never get bored here.
I love visiting Moab to hike in Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dead Horse Point State Park before heading south to Bryce Canyon National Park, Kodachrome Basin State Park, and Zion National Park.
I also like making stops in Park City and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Arizona is the perfect escape for adventure and relaxation.
Emily Hart
Arizona is well known for the Grand Canyon, but the state has much more to offer. From Flagstaff's high-altitude forests to Sedona's iconic red rocks, Arizona's diversity is surprising and worth a trip.
I love hiking among the cacti in Sedona or Scottsdale before heading to one of the many resorts to jump in a pool or hit the spa — the perfect escape for adventure and relaxation.
This story was originally published on April 5, 2024, and most recently updated on October 23, 2026.
One of the most closely watched Senate races in the country is unfolding in Maine, where five-term Republican Susan Collins faces a tough challenge from Democrat Troy Jackson, a former logger and state legislator. The race is rated a toss-up, with both parties fighting for a seat that could determine control of the Senate. Lisa Desjardins reports from Maine.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said a new radio ad calling her opponent, Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson, a “creep” should be taken down. The ad, airing on Maine radio, features a country song with the lyrics, “If he’ll screw his own family, he’ll screw yours too,” The Associated Press reported. The ad is from the…
The Trump administration is advancing some wind projects after a court order required it to do so. A White House official said Thursday that an initial set of wind projects under Pentagon review have been released. The official said this represents two projects located in Maine and South Dakota. The official said the Defense Department…
Charisma or cash: to win an election, candidates need at least one of those two factors. With two weeks to go until the U.S. midterm elections, Republicans are throwing everything they have into the closest states to try to climb back in polls that are unfavorable to them. They have the invaluable help of the vast sums Donald Trump raises through his Super PAC, the political action committee that pools donations coming from the ultraconservative MAGA movement.
The battle for the Senate in the midterm elections will determine how much room Donald Trump has to maneuver during the second half of his term: no legislation reaches the White House without first passing through the upper chamber.
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