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Susan Collins and Troy Jackson face off in Maine's midterm Senate race

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly center (67%).

4 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

CBS News, PBS NewsHour and NewsNation report that Republican Sen. Susan Collins, seeking a sixth term, faces Democrat Troy Jackson, a former Maine state Senate president, in Tuesday's midterm election. PBS reports that Collins, first elected in 1996, is the only Republican senator from a state Kamala Harris won in 2024 and has often outperformed her party. NewsNation reports that Jackson, a former logger, has campaigned on Medicaid for all, abolishing ICE and higher taxes on billionaires, alongside tax cuts for working people. PBS and NewsNation report that Graham Platner won the Democratic primary in June and then dropped out after sexual assault allegations. NewsNation says Platner denied the allegations, and the Democratic Party then chose Jackson as its nominee.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. Editors read every story. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Republican incumbent Susan Collins, seeking a sixth term, faces Democrat Troy Jackson, a former Maine state Senate president, in Tuesday's midterm Senate race.

    Reported byLeft1Center2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News
    Center
    PBS NewsHour, NewsNation

  2. Collins has served since 1996 and is the only Republican senator from a state Kamala Harris won in 2024.

    One side only: the centerReported byCenter2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    PBS NewsHour, NewsNation

  3. Graham Platner won the Democratic primary in June, then dropped out a month later after sexual assault allegations emerged; he denied the allegations.

    One side only: the centerReported byCenter2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    PBS NewsHour, NewsNation

  4. After Platner withdrew, a party convention chose Jackson, a former logger, as the Democratic nominee.

    One side only: the centerReported byCenter2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    PBS NewsHour, NewsNation

  5. Jackson's campaign platform, according to NewsNation, includes Medicaid for all, abolishing ICE and higher taxes on billionaires, with tax cuts for working people.

    One outletNewsNation· Center

How each side tells it

Compare views

All sides present report that Republican Susan Collins, the incumbent, faces Democrat Troy Jackson in Maine's Senate race on Tuesday. The left-side CBS piece focuses on what the candidates are telling voters, while the center outlets add Collins's record and the withdrawal of Graham Platner.

  • the left

    1 outlet

    The CBS headline frames the race through what both candidates are telling Maine voters ahead of the midterms, with no conclusion drawn.

    Here's what Susan Collins and Troy Jackson are telling Maine voters ahead of the midterms
    CBS NewsLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    2 outlets

    Live-results headlines name both candidates neutrally, but NewsNation's headline casts Jackson as the challenger fighting to replace Collins.

    Live Results: Maine Senate midterm election
    PBS NewsHourCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    No coverage yet

    No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

Mantle found no loaded language in this coverage. Every headline and opening was checked against Mantle’s published word list, and Mantle’s AI read 3 of the 4 articles in context when it wrote the analysis. Straight reporting often has none.

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

1 outlet

Leads with

  • what both candidates tell voters
  • the race as a midterm to watch
  • Collins as a five-term Republican incumbent
See the headline from the leftHide the headlines
  • CBS NewsLeft

    Here's what Susan Collins and Troy Jackson are telling Maine voters ahead of the midterms

    One of Tuesday's midterm races to watch is in Maine, where five-term Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins is facing a challenge from Democrat Troy Jackson, the former Maine state senate president. CBS News' Jericka Duncan reports.

    Read at CBS News (opens in a new tab)

From the center

2 outlets

Leads with

  • Collins's record of working across parties
  • Collins outperforming her party
  • Platner's withdrawal after allegations
  • Jackson's working-class economic platform
See the 2 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

0 outlets

No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The stories you read build My Mix, a private picture of which sides cover the stories you choose, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    CBS News, Nov 2, 5:34 PM EST

  • Center

    11 hr 27 min later

    Its first report, Nov 3, 5:00 AM EST

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. CBS NewsLeftNov 2, 5:34 PM EST
  2. PBS NewsHourCenterNov 3, 5:00 AM EST
  3. NewsNationCenterNov 3, 6:00 AM EST

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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