Election 2026
Independent, source-first accountability
Issue record
What each candidate says on this issue, and what their own official record shows.
Campaign positions
Her campaign says she has fought to expand access to workforce training so Mainers can secure good-paying jobs, and that as Appropriations chairman she has secured federal money for workforce programs. It states no position on tax rates.
His campaign's priorities include taxing billionaires, making corporations pay what it calls their fair share, and tax cuts for the working class. At a Labor Day event he said every full-time worker should have guaranteed paid time off.
Evidence timeline
official action
She cosponsored the Trade Review Act; it remains a proposal.
In the October 13 debate, Collins said she had cosponsored a bill to give Congress more authority over tariffs. Collins cosponsored S. 1272, the Trade Review Act of 2025, introduced April 3. It would end newly imposed duties after 60 days unless Congress enacted approval. Section 2(d) excludes antidumping and countervailing duties under title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930. The October 22 record lists no law. Limit: Cosponsorship does not establish changed tariff policy or any particular exemption.
official action
She voted for both Senate resolutions to end the emergency behind the Canada tariffs, in April and October 2025; both passed the Senate and neither became law.
In both debates she said she has voted against the tariffs on Canada, and on October 8 that she did so every time the Senate voted on them. The Senate has voted twice on ending the national emergency the Canada tariffs rest on, and she voted Yea both times: on S.J.Res. 37, which passed 51 to 48 on April 2, 2025, and on S.J.Res. 77, which she cosponsored and which passed 50 to 46 on October 29, 2025. She also voted Yea both times the Senate voted on ending the emergency behind the global tariffs, on April 30 and October 30, 2025. Neither Canada resolution has become law. Limit: These were votes to end the emergency the tariffs rest on; the Senate has held no other vote on the Canada tariffs. Her work to get single items like road salt taken off the list is not on a public record and is not checked.
official action
He was not a member of the 2025–26 Maine Senate. That Senate passed LD210, a budget for fiscal 2026–27, on June 18, 2025; it became law June 20.
Jackson said he was out of the Legislature and did not put together Maine’s latest budget. He was not a member of the 2025–26 Maine Senate. That Senate passed LD210, a budget for fiscal 2026–27, on June 18, 2025; it became law June 20. Limit: This checks the 2025 budget session, not his longer absence estimate, earlier policies or responsibility for the budget gap.
official action
The program passed as part of the 2023 state budget, which he voted for as one of 22 senators; it was not a bill of his.
At a Labor Day event, in words his campaign republished, he said: we passed paid family and medical leave in Maine. Maine's paid family and medical leave program was enacted in the 2023 state budget, as Part AAA of Public Law 2023, chapter 412. The Senate enacted the budget 22 to 9 on July 6, 2023 (Roll Call 484) with his Yea vote, and the Governor signed it on July 11. The Maine statutes credit the program's provisions to that Part. The stand-alone bill on the subject, LD 1964, sponsored by Senator Matthea Daughtry, died when the Legislature adjourned. Limit: "We" fits how it passed: as one Part of a budget that 22 senators voted for, not as a bill of his. The record shows his vote and the enactment. What the program pays and when benefits began are set in the statute and were not checked here.
official action
Senate colleagues named her and Rubio as PPP authors and four senators as negotiators. No drafting record was found; the 250,000 jobs figure was not checked.
Her campaign says she was the author of the Paycheck Protection Program, and that the program saved and protected more than 250,000 jobs in Maine. The program was created by section 1102 of the CARES Act, Public Law 116-136, which the Senate passed 96 to 0 on March 25, 2020 and which was signed on March 27. Its forerunner, small business loans that could be forgiven, was in S. 3548, the Senate Republican bill Mitch McConnell introduced for himself and six committee chairmen; Collins is not among them. The Congressional Record names her as one of its authors. In June 2020 the majority leader called Marco Rubio and Collins the program's chief architects and thanked them for authoring it, and in April Ben Cardin said it was negotiated by Rubio, Collins, Jeanne Shaheen and himself. In September 2020 she sponsored S. 4773, the Continuing the Paycheck Protection Program Act. Limit: The Record makes her one of the program's authors, not its only one: the majority leader names Rubio beside her, and Cardin names four senators who negotiated it. Those are colleagues' statements on the floor, not a drafting record; no committee document assigning the drafting was found. The jobs figure rests on Small Business Administration loan data this desk did not read.
official action
Collins introduced a student-loan interest deduction proposal in June 1997; Congress enacted the deduction through a separate law.
Collins said she introduced a bill to make student-loan interest tax-deductible. She introduced S. 930 on June 18, 1997. Section 3 proposed a deduction for interest paid on qualifying education loans. Limit: The deduction became law separately in the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act.
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Collins for Senator · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Campaign-controlled source and the fullest statement of the record she runs on: workforce, health care, Alzheimer's, diabetes, Social Security and congressionally directed spending.
candidate statement
For: Susan M. Collins: campaign position; Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
Troy Jackson for Maine · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Campaign-controlled source: eleven priorities, listed without detail.
candidate statement
For: Troy D. Jackson: campaign position
Troy Jackson for Maine · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Campaign release that collects news coverage; the paid-leave sentences are his words as quoted by News Center Maine and republished by the campaign.
candidate statement
For: Troy D. Jackson: campaign position; Troy D. Jackson: Matches stated record claim
WABI / WAGM · Published Oct 13, 2026 · Reviewed Oct 22, 2026
49:32. Paraphrase of saved native English captions; no second transcript compared.
candidate statement
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
Congress.gov / U.S. Government Publishing Office · Published Apr 3, 2025 · Reviewed Oct 22, 2026
Congress.gov confirms Collins cosponsorship. Introduced text sets the 60-day approval rule, excluding title VII antidumping and countervailing duties in section 2(d). No law listed at October 22 readback.
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
CBS 13 News (WGME) · Published Oct 6, 2026 · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026
48:02-48:31. Described from the host's YouTube captions; no second transcript was found, so the words are not quoted.
candidate statement
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
WMTW-TV · Published Oct 8, 2026 · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026
53:05-53:28. Described from the host's YouTube captions; no second transcript was found, so the words are not quoted.
candidate statement
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
U.S. Senate · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026
The Senate's own vote records, read October 10, 2026. Votes 160 (April 2, 2025, S.J.Res. 37) and 598 (October 29, 2025, S.J.Res. 77) are on ending the emergency behind the Canada tariffs; 225 (April 30, S.J.Res. 49) and 600 (October 30, S.J.Res. 88) on the global tariffs. Collins Yea on all four. No other roll call in 2025 or 2026 names the Canada tariffs.
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
Congress.gov · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026
Tim Kaine's resolution. Passed the Senate 51 to 48 on April 2, 2025; received in the House and held at the desk. Not law.
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
Congress.gov · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026
Tim Kaine's second resolution, with Collins among the original cosponsors. Passed the Senate 50 to 46 on October 29, 2025; held at the desk in the House. Not law.
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
Maine Public / NEWS CENTER Maine / Portland Press Herald · Published Oct 15, 2026 · Reviewed Nov 2, 2026
Paraphrase from one saved native English-caption copy, about 12:30–13:31. The surrounding exchange was checked; caption cue timings locate the passage, not exact speech boundaries.
candidate statement
For: Troy D. Jackson: Matches stated direction
Maine Legislature · Published Dec 4, 2024 · Reviewed Nov 2, 2026
Page 2 lists all 35 certified senators for the new Legislature; Jackson is absent and Susan Bernard represents District 1. The outgoing-president cover reference to Jackson is not new membership.
official legislative record
For: Troy D. Jackson: Matches stated direction
Maine Legislature · Reviewed Nov 1, 2026
Full roster checked alongside the historical sponsor form/search; Jackson is absent.
official legislative record
For: Troy D. Jackson: Matches stated direction
Maine Legislature · Published Jun 18, 2025 · Reviewed Nov 2, 2026
Final enactment passed 19–15 with one excused. All 35 members are listed; Jackson was not a member, rather than merely absent from this vote.
official legislative record
For: Troy D. Jackson: Matches stated direction
Maine Legislature · Reviewed Nov 2, 2026
LD210 became law June 20, 2025. It provides fiscal 2026–27 appropriations and also adjusts fiscal 2025; the card does not assess earlier policy choices or responsibility for the budget gap.
official legislative record
For: Troy D. Jackson: Matches stated direction
Maine Legislature · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
The 2023 budget: enacted by the Senate on Roll Call 484, 22 to 9, on July 6, 2023; signed July 11, 2023 as Public Law 2023, chapter 412.
official legislative record
For: Troy D. Jackson: Matches stated record claim
Maine Legislature · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
July 6, 2023. Jackson of Aroostook recorded Y.
official legislative record
For: Troy D. Jackson: Matches stated record claim
Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Maine Legislature · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
The program's definitions section; its history credits it to Public Law 2023, chapter 412, Part AAA, section 7.
official legislative record
For: Troy D. Jackson: Matches stated record claim
Maine Legislature · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
The stand-alone bill, sponsored by Matthea Daughtry, then a senator; the summary page gives her later title, President. It passed the House but was left in the Senate's possession at adjournment and died.
official legislative record
For: Troy D. Jackson: Matches stated record claim
U.S. Government Publishing Office · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Signed March 27, 2020. Section 1102 is the paycheck protection program. The law names no author of any section.
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
The Senate Republican bill introduced March 19, 2020 by Mitch McConnell for himself and six committee chairmen: Alexander, Crapo, Grassley, Rubio, Shelby and Wicker. Collins is not among them.
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Passed the Senate 96 to 0 on March 25, 2020 (Record Vote 80) and became Public Law 116-136 on March 27, both from Congress.gov's action list. The Record prints vote 80 without name blocks, so the shared collector cannot read it; the tally is Congress.gov's.
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
U.S. Government Publishing Office · Published Jun 3, 2020 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Congressional Record of June 3, 2020. Mitch McConnell: "Thanks especially to its chief architects, Senator Rubio and Senator Collins" and "I want to thank Senator Collins and Senator Rubio once more for their leadership in authoring this historic program in the first place."
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
U.S. Government Publishing Office · Published Apr 9, 2020 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Congressional Record of April 9, 2020. Ben Cardin, the senator from Maryland: "The Paycheck Protection Program was negotiated in good faith by Senator Rubio, Senator Collins, Senator Shaheen, and myself".
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026
Sponsor Collins; introduced September 30, 2020 and placed on the Senate calendar; not passed.
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
Maine Public / NEWS CENTER Maine / Portland Press Herald · Published Oct 15, 2026 · Reviewed Oct 26, 2026
1:15–1:29. Paraphrase of saved native English captions; no second transcript compared. Covers the bill introduction, not sole credit for enactment.
candidate statement
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
U.S. Government Publishing Office · Published Jun 18, 1997 · Reviewed Oct 26, 2026
105th Congress. Collins introduced the bill June18,1997; section3 proposes an education-loan-interest deduction. Congress.gov lists no law for this bill.
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim
U.S. Government Publishing Office · Published Aug 5, 1997 · Reviewed Oct 26, 2026
H.R.2014, approved August5,1997. Section202 separately enacts an education-loan-interest deduction, with terms differing from S.930. No sole authorship or causal credit is assigned.
official legislative record
For: Susan M. Collins: Matches stated record claim