Along U.S. Route 1, Maine voters worry about heating oil, gas and Canadian tariffs
The U.S. Senate race in Maine between Susan Collins and Troy Jackson is a tight contest centered on rural voter turnout. Voters in Aroostook County are particularly concerned with economic issues like heating oil costs and trade tariffs.
Why it matters
Highlights the critical role of rural voters in swing-state Senate elections and the impact of local economic anxieties on national politics.
Fall came early in Aroostook County, Maine — the shared birthplace of Republican Sen. Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson.
By early-September, amber leaves start to greet drivers along the two-lane roads of Aroostook, the northernmost county in the contiguous U.S. This year, a few red, white and blue campaign signs for Collins and Jackson add to the colorful display dotting U.S. Route 1.
Route 1 is a road both Collins and Jackson know well as it runs through both of their hometowns. Collins is from Caribou, Maine while Jackson was born in Fort Kent, about 40 miles north.
Statistically, the race between them is a toss-up, according to Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center which runs polls in Maine. Voters in Aroostook County — who supported Obama in 2012 and Trump in 2016 — could decide which home-county candidate ultimately wins.
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