Democrat Troy Jackson tells Susan Collins to 'shut up' as Maine Senate debate is derailed by heckler

Democratic Senate challenger Troy Jackson snapped "Oh, shut up" at Republican incumbent Susan Collins during their final Maine debate Thursday after Collins suggested a protester who interrupted her was a Jackson supporter. The heckler shouted that AI data centres are "destroying our climate" and demanded to know what Collins had achieved in her 30 years in the Senate before being escorted out. Jackson insisted he did not know the man and fired back furiously at the insinuation.

The toss-up race pits five-term incumbent Collins against Jackson, a former logger and ex-state Senate president, in a key Democratic flip target.

Collins faced repeated pressure to name a time she had defied Trump and actually changed a vote's outcome — her attempt to block Pete Hegseth's Pentagon confirmation failed when a fellow Republican switched sides at the last minute.