Two longtime political rivals, former Sen. Joe Manchin and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are campaigning in Maine this week on opposite sides of the state’s Senate race, according to a report on Yahoo News, as polls show Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson in a tight contest.

Manchin, an independent who left the Democratic Party in 2024, has endorsed Collins, praising her as the “soul of the Senate” and pointing to their joint work on the 2021 infrastructure law and a 2022 gun-violence bill.

Manchin and Ocasio-Cortez Campaign in Maine

He has said he cannot support candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America. Jackson, a former Maine Senate president and logger, supports Medicare for All and dismantling ICE. He does not describe himself as a democratic socialist, though he has received support from democratic socialists.

Jackson became the Democratic nominee after Graham Platner’s campaign unravelled in scandal. Collins has characterised him as a “Bernie bro” and a socialist, while Jackson and Democrats have tried to tie Collins to President Trump to undercut her image as an independent voice.

The stakes are high. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, so Democrats need to flip four seats to take control, with Vice President JD Vance casting tiebreaking votes. Collins is the only Republican senator representing a state that Kamala Harris won in 2024, and she chairs the Appropriations Committee. Limited polling has found the race effectively tied.