Troy Jackson (D) takes on Incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R) in Maine Senate race

As I pointed out, it is Election Day, and there are some races going on across the country that everyone is paying attention to. Our Kaylee Schuyler is looking at one. Kaylee, people have been talking about Senator Susan Collins' demise for years, and yet she is still there, and she is still trudging along, and now in Maine they're making a decision as to whether or not she'll stay. Yeah, hi there, Bill. So the polls have been open for more than seven hours now. There was a rush this morning. It's been a little bit slow throughout the day, but I'm sure here in a couple of hours, we're going to be getting that after work rush and voters have been talking about it. They've been saying that they've been excited to get out, cast their ballot in this toss up Senate race. The Democratic candidate, Troy Jackson, is trying to defeat Collins, who has held her seat for three decades. Some voters say they want her to stay while others say it's time to shake things up. One of the few Republicans who's middle of the road can see both sides of the issues. People are starting to get tired of her and they don't like her connection to other parts of our administration. There was record turnout for early voting. More than 300,000 Mainers casting ballots before Election Day. I've been in this state for the better part of the last month talking to voters, and some say they're concerned about the integrity of the election process. So I asked Maine Secretary of State Secretary of State, how voters can be confident election officials are handling their ballots properly. There were incidents last year where election materials ended up where they weren't supposed to be. How can voters feel confident tonight that their ballots are going to end up where they should? We fired them. If you're not getting the job done, you know, we were able to find the problem, rectify the error, make sure that it had no impact on the election. Five-term Republican Susan Collins is fighting to hold onto her seat. She's been campaigning as an independent thinker who fights for Maine. She says her seniority in the Senate gives her an advantage, while Troy Jackson says it's time to shake things up. He's been tying Collins to President Trump and campaigning with progressives like AOC and Bernie Sanders. To be in Washington, you have to have experience, you have to have knowledge, you have to have relationships, and seniority. And I have all four of those. This race is about getting our government back and then pushing it forward in a way that I don't think any of us has ever seen it. Maine uses a ranked choice voting system, so if neither candidate wins 50% of the votes in the first round, then it goes into a runoff, and that could take several days. Bill? Kaylee, you gave us kind of a summary of how people are feeling, but what was the energy like there? Do you think that more people are kind of buying the whole seniority argument? Are more people pushing for a change, or was it really kind of evenly split? It's so interesting. Now I will say for context, this area is more of a blue area, really anywhere along the coast or more kind of southern Maine. is more of a blue area. It's when you get more northern Maine where it's more of the purple that we've been talking about. So here we've run into a lot of Democratic voters who they say they're ready for something to change. Of course, we have run into some voters as well who say they want Susan Collins to say they actually do believe that she's independent. They do think she has the seniority or the edge in the Senate here. Across the state, it is pretty split. It's going to be interesting to see. Again, I've been jumping around the state for the last month, but here specifically in the Portland area, a lot of people are voting blue. And also, have you gotten a chance to hear from anybody about whether or not they are surprised by that voter turnout? I mean, we're seeing it across the country, but early voting is setting records for midterm election. Actually, no one I've spoken to has been surprised about it. They have said there's a lot of energy in the air. A lot of people are excited, getting out to vote. I mean, I think from the 2022 midterms, there was 30% more turnout from just that time. So it's even been at the campaign events I've been going to for Jackson and Collins. Everyone has been saying, the candidates have been saying, it just feels like there's a buzz in the air. People are ready to get out and make their voices heard. All right, Kaylee Schuyler, appreciate your update, your information. It could be a long night for a lot of us who are following these midterm elections, but we shall see. And we'll check in, Kaylee, with you a little bit later on again as we continue these updates.