Senator Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger Troy Jackson have both embraced calls for guardrails on data centers ahead of the Maine Senate race, as polling finds that Maine voters are skeptical of their construction in the Pine Tree State.
The midterm elections have been defined by the debate over artificial intelligence (AI) powered data centers, as a growing number of Americans—and Mainers—say they do not want to see them built in their communities.
Collins has generally walked a fine line on data centers, voting for the Ratepayer Protection Act and calling for more local control over the issue. Meanwhile, Jackson has been highly critical of data center developers and has called for the state to implement a moratorium on their construction. The issue could be impactful in the race, which is one of a handful of toss-ups that could determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate after the midterms.
Proponents of data centers believe they are an important economic lifeline for communities that have the potential to create jobs. Critics, however, have raised numerous issues with data centers, including their impact on the environment, water usage, their potential to drive up electricity bills and noise pollution.
In Maine, a state with a culture that values conservation, several municipalities have implemented moratoriums on data centers, as they are “very unpopular” in the state, Mark Brewer, professor of political science at the University of Maine in Orono, told Newsweek.
“An exception might be old mill towns that have lost their mill but still have much of the infrastructure in place,” he added.
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The data center debate was on display during a viral moment in the final debate between the two candidates when a data center protester briefly disrupted while Collins was speaking. Collins said the protester was “obviously one of Troy’s supporters,” to which Jackson responded, “Oh, shut up. I don’t even know that kid.”
During an October 13 debate, Collins said that the two candidates are “not that far apart on this particular issue” during a discussion about data centers. Here is a look at where the two candidates stand on the matter.
Susan Collins Position on Data Centers
Collins touted her support for the Ratepayer Protection Act, which required states to consider establishing standards for when data centers and other large electricity users connect to the grid, during the debate.
“I voted and cosponsored a bill that the Senate considered just last month to put guardrails and encourage states to adopt guardrails on the construction of data centers. That included making sure that they have no impact on electric rates, very important for a state like Maine with the fourth highest electric rates in the country due to Troy’s policies,” she said.
The senator said she believes the issue is decided locally.
“There may be a former mill site, as Governor [Janet] Mills has said, where a data center would work out all right because there is a source of power and water, but in many other places, they would not work well,” she said.
A spokesperson for Collins pointed to her statement about the Ratepayer Protection Act when reached by Newsweek.
“Maine families and small businesses are already paying some of the highest electricity costs in the nation,” Collins said. “The bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act ensures that they will not pay an even steeper bill by directing state utility regulators to consider standards that would make high-volume users like AI data centers offset their own costs. Mainers should not have to pay the bill for data centers’ power generation, transmission lines, and energy infrastructure.”
Newsweek’s AI scorecard rates Collins as “Leans AI Skeptic.”
Troy Jackson's Position on Data Centers
Jackson has been much more critical of data centers.
During the October 13 debate, Jackson said data centers have the ability to “create some jobs,” but that data centers being built in Maine cannot increase electricity rates or hurt the state’s water quality.
“I want to make sure that we know what the data is. How they are using it, and there has to be real parameters, real guidelines to how we’re going to do this,” Jackson said. “I’m not really supportive of data centers, but I understand they’re maybe something that we have to deal with.”
Jackson said data centers must be slowed down so people can better understand their development.
“I am very much in favor of making sure the federal government or the state of Maine puts guardrails on these things because I don’t want the billionaires, again, writing the rules and making our communities worse off than they are right now,” he said.
While campaigning for governor earlier this year, Jackson criticized Mills for vetoing a moratorium on data center development in the state.
“Once again, we’re seeing power and influence coming into this state and ruining things for us Mainers. We needed a pause on this because it takes our power. It takes our water. There’s health effects. We need regulations because we don’t know what they’re doing without data, our information. We don’t know all the health effects to our kids,” he said.
Newsweek reached out to Jackson's campaign via email.
How Maine Voters View Data Centers
Data centers are unpopular in Maine, according to polls.
Only 29 percent of Mainers support the construction of data centers in the U.S., compared to 66 percent of whom oppose their development, according to a poll from The New York Times and Siena University of 619 voters from September 15 to 22.
Forty-one percent of respondents said they believed Jackson would do a better job on data centers, compared to 39 percent who said they trusted Collins more on the issue, according to the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.4 percentage points.
Several towns across the state, including Bangor, Brunswick, Sanford, Scarborough and Westbrook have implemented data center moratoriums, even as Mills vetoed legislation that would establish statewide limits earlier this year.
Earlier this month, voters in Buxton, a small town outside of Portland, approved a moratorium. Portland, the state’s largest city, has not implemented a data center moratorium.
Susan Collins vs. Troy Jackson: Maine Senate Polls, Odds
Polling has shown a tight race in a state that backed former Vice President Kamala Harris by about 7 points in the 2024 election.
Although Maine has a Democratic lean, Collins has been able to win in the past due to her personal popularity and image as one of the chamber's most bipartisan members. But Democrats are hopeful a national environment fueled by President Donald Trump's declining national approval rating could give Jackson a chance at unseating the longtime incumbent.
A Suffolk University poll gave Jackson a 2-point lead, 49 percent to 47 percent. It surveyed 500 Maine voters October 8-11 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Collins also trailed by 2 points in an InsiderAdvantage survey of 1,200 likely voters from October 13 to 14. Jackson’s support stood at 49 percent to 47 percent for Collins. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.83 percentage points.
Jackson was up 4 points among 800 likely voters in a poll from The Washington Post and George Mason University, conducted from September 30 to October 5. Fifty percent said they planned to vote for Jackson, compared with 46 percent for Collins. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
Polls underestimated Collins in her 2020 reelection bid. She trailed Democrat Sara Gideon in public surveys but won with more than 50 percent of the vote.
Forecasters like the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball classified the race as a toss-up.
Jackson had an edge in prediction markets as of Monday, when his chances of victory stood at 60 percent on Kalshi and 59 percent on Polymarket.
Prediction markets allow traders to buy and sell contracts tied to political outcomes and current events, aggregating real‑money wagers into probability estimates. Prices fluctuate as traders react to polling, fundraising, candidate developments and broader political trends. They measure trader sentiment at a given moment but do not always accurately predict the future.
Maine Voting: What to Know
In-person absentee voting began on October 5 and will continue until October 29. Polling locations are open between 6 a.m. or 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., depending on a town’s population.
As of October 26, 251,036 absentee ballots had been requested and 197,104 had been returned and accepted, according to data from the Maine Secretary of State office.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Anthony Murray and Jason Lemon.