CNN Projection: Sen. Cotton wins reelection in Arkansas

Republican Sen. Susan Collins is facing a competitive race against Democrat Sara Gideon in Maine tonight.

Here’s what we know about the race:

Challenger: State House Speaker Sara Gideon

• Despite her 10 years in public service and Gideon’s growing momentum, very few of her potential voters have heard her speak before, besides in her TV ads.
• The mom of three, a Rhode Island native, lives in Freeport, about an hour north of Kennebunkport.
• Gideon’s father is an Indian immigrant and her maternal grandparents came to the United States as toddlers, escaping the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. It was her husband, Ben, who was first recruited to run for the Freeport Town Council in 2009.

Incumbent: Republican Sen. Susan Collins

• She has served the people of Maine as senator since 1997 and formally announced her reelection campaign in December 2019.
• Over the course of her career, Collins has built a reputation for being a moderate. She said she didn’t vote for President Trump in 2016, but she’s disappointed those on the left since he took office when she voted for the — Republican tax bill and — most infamously in her critics’ eyes — by voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Why this race is important

The Maine Senate race is one of the most closely-watched and competitive of 2020 with just days until Election Day where the control of Congress and the White House are on the line.

Senate Democrats have made Maine one of their top targets where Collins, a longtime GOP incumbent, is facing a tough reelection fight in a state that Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election.

Contentious debate

Collins said during a debate on Oct. 28 that she does not think that systemic racism is a problem in the state.

“I do not believe systemic racism is a problem in the state of Maine,” Collins said at the debate hosted by CNN affiliate WMTW where she faced off against Democratic challenger and state House Speaker Sara Gideon.

The comments from the GOP senator came after the moderator asked, “Is the phrase ‘Black lives matter’ controversial and is there a systemic racism problem here in Maine?,” noting that the overwhelming majority of state residents identify as white. Although 94% of Mainers identify as White, the state is also home to a sizable refugee community, including Somali and Sudanese Americans.

The initial arrival of Somali immigrants was met with mixed reactions, including some high-profile instances of overt pushback starting in the early 2000’s when the mayor of Lewiston argued that the city had been overwhelmed by the influx.

In responding to the question, Collins also said, “I don’t think the phrase Black lives matter should be controversial,” and added, “it’s clear that in some parts of our country there is systemic racism or problems in police departments.”

Gideon, the Democratic challenger, responded to the same question by saying, “Black lives do matter and the reason we have to say it is because there is a legacy of bigotry in this country that results in systemic racism,” and noting the existence of racial disparities in Maine.

“It doesn’t matter how white our state is — it still exists. When we look at the incidences, for example, of the number of people of color who here in the state of Maine had a positive Covid infection rate and how outsized that was compared to the rest of the population. We see it in terms of access to education for people of color, access to health care, rates of poverty, rates of incarceration, and we do have to do something about it,” Gideon said.