Washington (AFP) - Embattled Republican incumbent US Senator Susan Collins of Maine scored a come-from-behind election victory as her challenger conceded Wednesday, virtually closing Democrats' pathway to regaining control of the Senate.
Democrats saw the moderate Collins as being on the chopping block in part because of her support for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, and they invested heavily in her challenger Sara Gideon, who is Maine's speaker of the House.
But Collins weathered the storm, dealing a severe blow to Democratic efforts to end the 53-47 Republican majority and take back the Senate.
"I just received a very gracious call from Sara Gideon conceding the race," said Collins, who had trailed for months in polling against her Democratic rival.
"I feel this is an affirmation of the work that I'm doing in Washington to fight hard every day for the people of Maine."
Collins, 67, has occasionally clashed with the president. Trump tweeted last month that there was a "nasty rumor" that Collins would not vote for his latest Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, and that supporting the senator's reelection effort was "not worth the work."
In October Collins indeed was the only Republican to vote against Barrett's confirmation.
With some 80 percent of the vote in Maine counted, Collins was ahead by six percent -- a sharply different result than the state's presidential race, which Democrat Joe Biden won.
Gideon said in a televised address that she spoke with Collins and "congratulated her on winning this election," which chalks up another victory for Republicans from Tuesday's election.
Republicans were scrambling to defend their Senate majority and Gideon's loss now makes it that much more difficult for Democrats to win back the upper chamber of Congress.
"Overall we had a better election than most people thought across the country," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who easily won his own reelection battle, told reporters in his home state of Kentucky.
Democrats have made a net gain of just one seat so far. There are three races outstanding that Democrats could flip -- one in North Carolina and two in traditionally Republican Georgia -- but their chances for doing so are slim.
"We are in a pretty good position in North Carolina but not yet able to declare victory," McConnell said.
