Maine and Alaska are two of the Senate races that could decide which party controls the chamber. In Maine, Collins faces Democrat Troy Jackson after a bitter debate series. In Alaska, Sullivan faces Mary Peltola with high fuel costs a factor. Democrats need a net gain of four seats.

With Election Day days away, two Senate contests are drawing national attention. Democrats need to net four seats to retake the Senate majority, and they are aiming to do that in Maine, North Carolina, Alaska and Ohio.

In Maine, Republican Susan Collins is seeking another term in a state that leans Democratic. She faces Democrat Troy Jackson, a former state Senate president from the same rural northern county, in one of November’s most closely watched contests. The campaign has turned sharp. In the last of four debates, Jackson told Collins to “shut up” during a heated exchange that also included a protester’s interruption. Jackson argues Collins has failed to push back against the Trump administration, while she points to her three decades in Congress and criticises some of its policies. She has also distanced herself from Trump over the Iran war. 

In Alaska, Republican Dan Sullivan is running for another term against Mary Peltola, a well-known former congresswoman. The Iran war has pushed up fuel costs in the state, and Sullivan has had to answer for issues where Trump has not made the race easy for him.