Despite great numbers for Joe Biden in the Pine Tree State, it seems that the presidential candidate wasn’t able to raise the numbers of the Democrats’ Senate hopeful, Sara Gideon. Gideon just conceded the race to Republican incumbent, Susan Collins. This will be Collins’ fifth term, making her the longest-serving female Republican senator.
The news is devastating for Democrats, who were counting on Gideon to secure control of the U.S. Senate. The party will need to find two more wins (or three, if Biden loses) if they want to control the upper chamber of Congress. Currently, they still have a shot at taking Thom Tillis’ seat in North Carolina, but there are no other obvious candidates. Even worse, it appears that Democratic Michigan Senator Gary Peters is in a neck-and-neck race with his Republican challenger, potentially making the climb even steeper for the Democrats.