United States Senate election in Maine, 2020

Elections in Maine, 2020

• Election date: Nov. 3
• Registration deadline(s): Nov. 3 (in person); Oct. 19 (by mail)
• Online registration: No
• Same-day registration: Yes
• Recount laws

• Early voting starts: Oct. 5
• Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): Nov. 3 (received)
• Processing, counting, and challenging absentee/mail-in ballots
• Voter ID: No ID
• Poll times: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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2022 → ← 2018
U.S. Senate, Maine
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 16, 2020
Primary: June 9, 2020 General: November 3, 2020 Pre-election incumbent: Susan Collins (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in Maine
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Toss-up Inside Elections: Tilt Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
U.S. Senate, Maine U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd Maine elections, 2020 U.S. Congress elections, 2020 U.S. Senate elections, 2020 U.S. House elections, 2020 Alabama U.S. Senate raceAlaska U.S. Senate raceArizona U.S. Senate raceArkansas U.S. Senate raceColorado U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceGeorgia U.S. Senate raceIdaho U.S. Senate raceIllinois U.S. Senate raceIowa U.S. Senate raceKansas U.S. Senate raceKentucky U.S. Senate raceLouisiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNew Hampshire U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNorth Carolina U.S. Senate raceOklahoma U.S. Senate raceOregon U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceSouth Carolina U.S. Senate raceSouth Dakota U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSubmit

Voters in Maine elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 3, 2020.

Incumbent Susan Collins won election in the general election for U.S. Senate Maine.

Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
March 16, 2020	June 9, 2020	November 3, 2020

The election filled the Class II Senate seat held by Susan Collins (R). Collins was first elected in 1996.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list of candidates is unofficial. The filing deadline for this election has passed, and Ballotpedia is working to update this page with the official candidate list. This note will be removed once the official candidate list has been added.

General election candidates

• Susan Collins  (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
• Sara Gideon  (Democratic Party)
• Max Linn  (Independent)
• Lisa Savage  (Independent) 
• Ian Kenton Engelman  (Facts Matter) (Write-in)
• Tiffany Bond  (Moderate MaineRaising Independent) (Write-in)
• Douglas Fogg  (Independent) (Write-in) 

Did not make the ballot:

• Danielle VanHelsing (Independent)
• Linda Wooten (Independent)

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= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

 Democratic primary candidates

• Sara Gideon ✔
• Bre Kidman 
• Betsy Sweet 

Did not make the ballot:

• Michael Bunker
• Christine Gates
• Ross LaJeunesse
• Cathleen London
• Jonathan Treacy

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= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

 Republican primary candidates

• Susan Collins (Incumbent) ✔

Did not make the ballot:

• Derek Levasseur

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Maine in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Maine, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
Maine	U.S. Senate	Qualified party	2,000	Fixed number	N/A	N/A	3/16/2020	Source
Maine	U.S. Senate	Unaffiliated	4000	Fixed number	N/A	N/A	6/1/2020	Source

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Maine, 2020
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 3, 2020	October 27, 2020	October 20, 2020	October 13, 2020
The Cook Political Report	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Tilt Democratic	Tilt Democratic	Tilt Democratic	Tilt Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Satellite spending

Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.

This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.

• Majority Forward announced the launch of a "six-figure TV and digital ad campagin" against Susan Collins (R) in November 2019.

Campaign ads

This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.

Susan Collins

Support

• "Repair And Replace" – Collins campaign, accessed December 20, 2019

"Making Prescription Drugs More Affordable" – Collins campaign, accessed November 13, 2019

"Flooding Maine" – Collins campaign, November 13, 2019

"Challenging Times" – Collins campaign, November 13, 2019

"Senator Susan Collins - A Champion for Maine's Working Families" – Collins campaign, September 25, 2019

Opposition

"Town Hall" – Majority Forward, November 20, 2019

Election history

2018

See also: United States Senate election in Maine, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Maine

Incumbent Angus King defeated Eric Brakey and Zak Ringelstein in the general election for U.S. Senate Maine on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Angus King (Independent)	54.3	344,575
		Eric Brakey (R)	35.2	223,502
		Zak Ringelstein (D)	10.4	66,268
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	64

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 634,409 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Chris Lyons (L)
• Alex Hammer (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maine

Zak Ringelstein advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maine on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Zak Ringelstein	100.0	89,841

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 89,841
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Maine

Eric Brakey advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Maine on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Eric Brakey	100.0	59,853

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 59,853
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Max Linn (R)

2014

U.S. Senate, Maine General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Susan Collins Incumbent	67%	413,505
	Democratic	Shenna Bellows	30.8%	190,254
	Other	Other	0%	269
	Blank	None	2.1%	12,968
Total Votes				616,996
Source: Maine Secretary of State Official Results

2012

U.S. Senate, Maine General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Independent	Angus King	51.1%	370,580
	Democratic	Cynthia Dill	12.8%	92,900
	Republican	Charles Summers	29.7%	215,399
	Libertarian	Andrew Ian Dodge	0.8%	5,624
	Independent	Danny Francis Dalton	0.8%	5,807
	Independent	Stephen Woods	1.4%	10,289
	N/A	Blank Votes	3.3%	24,121
Total Votes				724,720
Source: Maine Secretary of State "United States Senate Election Results"

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Maine, 2020
• United States Senate elections, 2020

Footnotes

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Maine's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Susan Collins (R)

Angus King (I)

Representatives

District 1

Chellie Pingree (D)

District 2

Jared Golden (D)

Democratic Party (2)

Republican Party (1)

Independent (1)