Which candidates for Senate are in a better position to help their state and, by extension, their citizens in the six years ahead?
This is the question voters in every state with a contested Senate seat should ask themselves before they vote between now and the close of voting Tuesday.
Example number one is Maine, where Senator Susan Collins is matched against Troy Jackson. Jackson is the man picked by Maines Democratic Party â not the voters â after Graham Platner crashed, burned and withdrew from the race on July 10. The partys state committee picked Jackson even though he had finished third in the Democratic governors primary the same day Platner won his primary. Polls rate the Maine race as a toss-up, but polls at the close in 2020 had Collins behind by at least four percentage points, and she in fact won by more than 8%.Â
Maine voters are unlikely to surrender the seniority Collins holds â she is chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee â for a rookie who would rank tied for last in the currency that matters the most in the Senate: the incumbents years served in the body. Add to that reality the fact that every Mainer seems to know the senator at least in passing and that communities across the state have benefited from the influence she has accumulated over more than 10,000 consecutive roll call votes, and Collins is poised to win. Again.
In South Carolina, Sen. Darline Graham has been serving since her brother Lindsey died. That gives her a leg up on new senators elected this year, and in a state that went for Donald Trump by 18% in 2024, its very likely Graham will return for a full six-year term.
Ohios incumbent Sen. Jon Husted has been in the Senate since January 2025. As a member of the majority, hes in a position to deliver more for the Buckeye State than the recycled Democrat Sherrod Brown, who was ousted by Ohio voters two years ago after collecting government paychecks for almost 50 years. Browns very liberal career lost touch with an Ohio electorate that went for Trump in 2024 by more than 11 points. Husted is the best candidate to deliver for Ohio.
In Michigan, either Republican Mike Rogers or Democrat Abdul El-Sayed would be a freshman senator, but El-Sayeds white-hot radicalism will put him in a corner of the Senate that is empty except for Bernie Sanders. Rogers, by contrast, is a mainstream, moderate Republican with 14 years of experience in the House. Expect Rogers to receive a warm welcome from the Senate GOP, which is eyeing Michigan as a battleground state in the 2028 presidential election.Â
FOX NEWS POLL: MICHIGAN VOTERS SPLIT BETWEEN EL-SAYED AND ROGERS
Theres a reason why most contenders for the GOP nomination have been to Michigan to lend Rogers a hand. Pennsylvanias Senator Dave McCormick was in the Wolverine State this week, and not surprisingly, McCormicks name is in the mix for 2028.
That’s also true for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who seems to have been everywhere this election cycle helping everyone (as a prospective candidate for the presidency does). Cruz was in Alaska on October 17 to give an assist to Sen. Dan Sulliva
