Former West Virginia senator Joe Manchin is throwing his weight behind Republican Susan Collins in Maine’s marquee Senate race, a cross-party endorsement that lands at a moment when control of the chamber could hinge on a single seat.
Manchin, who left the Democratic Party to become an independent in 2024, announced his plans Monday during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” saying he intends to actively campaign for Collins rather than merely lend his name to her bid.
“I’m backing whoever’s the best candidate right now. Susan Collins, I’m going to go campaign for Susan Collins,” Manchin said. He described Collins as a senator who remains approachable and willing to work across the aisle, adding that losing her would mean losing a rare broker in a polarized chamber. “You lose a Susan Collins of the Senate, you’re losing the soul of the Senate,” he said, describing her as someone he can call when he needs a partner on legislation.
A race poised on a knife’s edge
The timing of the endorsement could hardly be more consequential. Collins, who is seeking a sixth term, is locked in one of the tightest Senate contests in the country against Democrat Troy Jackson. Jackson entered the race as the party’s nominee after the Democratic primary winner, Graham Platner, withdrew following sexual assault allegations.
Since Jackson became the nominee, independent polling has consistently shown him with a narrow edge over Collins. The most recent CNN/SSRS survey put Jackson ahead 48% to 45% — a lead well within the survey’s margin of error, meaning the race remains effectively a toss-up with room for movement.
That volatility is what gives an endorsement like Manchin’s potential weight. A former Democratic senator and onetime governor of a deep-red state, Manchin built a national profile as a centrist willing to buck his own party — an identity that maps closely onto the image Collins has cultivated over nearly three decades in the Senate.
National stakes: a GOP majority on the line
Maine’s outcome carries implications far beyond its borders. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 Senate majority, and Democrats need to flip four seats to retake control. Their path to a majority runs through only a handful of genuinely competitive races, and Collins is widely regarded as one of the most plausible Republican pickups for Democrats because she represents a state President Trump has never carried in three presidential campaigns.
If Democrats fail to win Maine, their odds of reclaiming the Senate narrow sharply; if they succeed, the chamber could flip entirely. That arithmetic explains why both parties are pouring resources into the state and why a high-profile defection like Manchin’s is being watched nationally.
For Collins, the endorsement arrives at a delicate moment. Recent polling shows her underwater by 10 points, with 51% of respondents viewing her unfavorably. Manchin’s support could help shore up the moderate and independent voters she has relied on in past close races — the same coalition that helped her survive previous Democratic waves.
The limits of endorsements — and polls
Still, neither endorsements nor surveys are infallible. In Collins’ 2020 race, Democratic challenger Sara Gideon led in nearly every public poll but ultimately lost on Election Day, a reminder that Maine’s electorate has repeatedly confounded national expectations and that Collins has outperformed her polling before.
Manchin’s decision also reflects a broader pattern of the former senator operating outside traditional party lines since leaving the Democratic fold. His willingness to campaign for a Republican in a race that could determine Senate control underscores how much is at stake for both parties — and how much weight each side is placing on a small number of voters in a single New England state.
With months still to go before ballots are cast, the race is likely to remain fluid. But the Manchin endorsement gives Collins something her campaign has been eager to highlight: validation from a well-known Democrat-turned-independent who frames her as a necessary check in a narrowly divided Senate — and a signal to Maine’s unenrolled voters that she retains cross-party appeal even as her favorability numbers sag.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-democrat-makes-stunning-cross-party-move-in-crucial-senate-battle