The 2014 United States Senate election in Maine took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins, who has served in the position since 1997, won reelection to a fourth term in office with 68% of the vote. The primary elections were held on June 10, 2014. As of , this was the last time the Republican candidate won the counties of Cumberland and Knox.
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
Susan Collins, incumbent U.S. Senator
Write-in candidates
Erick Bennett, conservative activist and director of the Maine Equal Rights Center (unenrolled as a Republican, see Campaign section)
Declined
Scott D'Amboise, former Lisbon Falls Selectman and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012 Bruce Poliquin, former State Treasurer, candidate for Governor in 2010 and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012 (ran for ME-02) Mark Willis, former Maine Republican National Committeeman
Campaign
Maine Republican Party Chairman Rick Bennett was critical of Erick Bennett's campaign, stating that he did not believe Erick would get the necessary signatures to get on the ballot. After making it clear the two men are not related, Rick felt that this would be due to Erick's views as expressed on his Facebook page. These included referring to U.S. Representative Mike Michaud as a "closet homo" and criticism of Nelson Mandela, comparing him to Stalin and Karl Marx. Furthermore, Erick Bennett was convicted in 2003 of assaulting his wife, which was upheld by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, though he maintains his innocence. Rick Bennett stated that Erick's views "do not represent the views of the Republican Party".
Erick Bennett announced before the primary filing deadline on March 17 that he had left the Republican Party and would run as an independent. Maine law, however, requires that an independent candidate must have not been in a political party by March 1 of the election year in order to run as an independent, meaning Bennett cannot legally run as such. The Kennebec Journal has reported that Bennett is a write-in candidate for the Republican nomination.
On April 3, 2014, Collins' campaign announced the joint endorsement of Bath Iron Works' labor unions, which the campaign claimed was the first time the unions issued a joint endorsement as well as the first time they endorsed a Republican candidate for federal office.
Polling
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
Shenna Bellows, former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine
Declined
Emily Cain, state senator (ran for ME-02) Mike Michaud, U.S. Representative (ran for Governor)
Results
Independents
To qualify as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maine, a candidate needs to submit at least 4,000 valid signatures to the secretary of state by June 1. Any independent candidate must not have been enrolled in a political party after March 1 of the year the election occurs.
Former Republican candidate Erick Bennett announced just before the March 17 primary filing deadline that he had left the Republican Party and would run as an independent, but Maine law required him to have unenrolled as a Republican by March 1 to do so. Therefore, he could not legally run as an independent.
Candidates
Declared
Erick Bennett, conservative activist and director of the Maine Equal Rights Center (unenrolled as a Republican, see Campaign section)
Declined
Mike Turcotte, adjunct professor at Eastern Maine Community College
General election
Background
Heading into the 2014 cycle, only 12 U.S. Senate elections had involved two major party female nominees in U.S. history.
Candidates
Susan Collins (Republican), incumbent U.S. Senator
Shenna Bellows (Democratic), former executive director of the Maine ACLU
Endorsements
Predictions
Polling
* Internal poll for Shenna Bellows campaign
With Collins
With Poliquin
With Summers
Results
The election was not close, with Collins winning all 16 of Maine's counties, each by a margin of at least 24 percentage points.