One of the defining questions of the 2026 midterm elections is whether voters will still cross party lines in prominent statewide races or whether polarization has made straight-ticket voting the default.
asserted
voting → cross → races
Maine and Georgia offer near mirror-image tests.
asserted
Maine → offer → tests
In Maine, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Hannah Pingree is running well ahead of Republican nominee Bobby Charles, while the Senate race between Democratic nominee Troy Jackson and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) remains competitive.
asserted
race → run → Jackson
The Pine Tree State race is a linchpin of Senate Democratic strategy to win a majority in the chamber, which Republicans now control 53-47.
asserted
Republicans → win → which
In Georgia, the pattern is reversed.
asserted
pattern → reverse → Georgia
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) holds a 7-point lead in the latest InsiderAdvantage poll against Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA).
asserted
Ossoff → hold → Collins
Meanwhile, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms faces a tighter contest with Republican businessman Rick Jackson.
asserted
Bottoms → face → Jackson
The last time a Georgia Democrat won the gubernatorial race was in 1998.
asserted
Democrat → win → 1998
Together, the East Coast races could show whether voters are making individual judgments about candidates rather than simply voting for one party.
uncertain
voters → show → party
Maine tests Democratic coattails
Maine may offer the clearest test of whether a popular gubernatorial candidate can lift a Senate nominee.
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candidate → test → nominee
The state is a particularly intriguing test case, since it’s largely backed Democratic presidential candidates from 1992 on.
asserted
it → back → 1992
The question is whether voters who strongly support Pingree, 49, will also back Troy Jackson, 58, or whether Susan Collins’s personal appeal can persuade Democrats and independents to split their tickets.
asserted
appeal → support → tickets
Collins was first elected to the Senate in 1996 and has beaten back several highly touted and well-funded Democratic challengers over the years.
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Collins → elect → years
Jackson is a replacement candidate for the original Democratic Senate nominee, Graham Platner, who exited the race after a series of negative news stories about him, including a rape allegation from his former girlfriend, which he denies.
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he → exit → which
Dave Spencer, a political commentator and host of the Practically Political podcast, said ticket-splitting has become far less common over the past 15 years, particularly in Senate races.
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splitting → say → races
That largely coincides with the political rise of President Donald Trump, who won two of the past three White House races.
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who → coincide → races
“In 2018, there were eight Democratic senators in the 25 states Trump had won by 10 points or more,” Spencer told the Washington Examiner.
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Spencer → be → Examiner
Susan Collins in Maine is now the only Republican senator from the 19 states that voted Democratic in each of the last three presidential elections.”
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that → vote → elections
Spencer said Collins, 73, remains an exception because of her long-standing appeal to voters beyond the Republican base.
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Collins → say → base
“In 2020, Biden won Maine by more than 9 points, while Collins won her Senate race by almost the same margin,” he said.
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he → win → margin
“Collins has been able to get voters to split their tickets in a way that very few politicians can anymore.”
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politicians → get → way
Republican strategist Jeff Burton pointed to the same race as evidence.
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Burton → point → evidence
“That’s an enormous swing between two races on the same ballot,” he said.
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he → ’ → ballot
But Natalie Jackson, founder and principal of Centerline Research & Strategy, a public opinion and consulting firm, said Collins makes Maine an imperfect measure of broader voting behavior.
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Maine → consult → behavior
“Maine is a unique case and doesn’t offer any sweeping lessons about coattails,” she said.
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she → offer → coattails
Collins is “a known entity, and Mainers are comfortable with her as a moderate.”
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Mainers → know → moderate
Georgia offers the reverse test
Georgia presents the opposite dynamic.
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Georgia → offer → dynamic
Democrats hold both Senate seats, and in 2020, Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential nominee to win Georgia since 1992.
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Biden → hold → 1992
However, the Peach State reverted to GOP form in 2024 when Trump beat Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris there.
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Trump → revert → Harris
In this year’s Senate race, incumbent Ossoff, 39, is running ahead of Mike Collins, 59, while Bottoms, 56, faces a competitive contest against Rick Jackson, 72.
asserted
Bottoms → run → Jackson
That creates the possibility that some voters could support a Democrat for Senate but a Republican for governor.
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voters → create → governor
“Georgia may be the best test of whether voters are willing to split their ticket,” Burton said.
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Burton → split → ticket
“Ossoff is running well ahead of the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, and that tells you voters are looking at these races separately, not simply voting red or blue.”
asserted
voters → run → races
“I can absolutely see a meaningful number of Georgians voting Republican for governor and Democratic for Senate,” he added.
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he → see → Senate
“That’s not ideological inconsistency.
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That → ’ → ?
That’s voters deciding they like one candidate and don’t like another.”
asserted
they → ’ → another
David Greenberg, a U.S. political and media history professor at Rutgers, agreed that Georgia may be the more revealing case.
uncertain
Georgia → agree → Rutgers
“Georgia strikes me as the most likely state to see a split decision,” he told the Washington Examiner.
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he → strike → Examiner
Greenberg said Ossoff benefits from incumbency, while Bottoms, who was Atlanta’s mayor from 2018 to 2022, is seeking statewide office for the first time.
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who → say → time
“If she wins, it’ll be because the winds are blowing in a Democratic direction and she will be the beneficiary of a nationwide trend,” Greenberg said.
asserted
Greenberg → win → trend
…and 38 more, not listed.
