Jordan Wood, the former chief of staff to liberal Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), launched a campaign Wednesday for the seat of Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

In a launch video, 35-year-old Wood painted the longtime centrist GOP senator as an enabler of “wannabe dictator” President Donald Trump, saying that “Republicans are ignoring the Constitution,” and dinging his own party for “too many Democratic leaders [who] are just rolling over.”

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“Susan Collins: She says she’s ‘worried,’ that she’s ‘concerned.’ Maine needs more than concern,” Wood said.

Collins, 72, has yet to launch her reelection but told the Washington Examiner last year that she intends to seek a sixth term. She’s the lone Republican up for reelection in 2026 in a state former Vice President Kamala Harris won during the 2024 election. It’s a perennial battleground Senate seat that Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to flip for years.  

Collins’s reelection fight will again be one of the most closely watched races in the country for what nonpartisan election forecasters consider a “lean Republican” seat.

The Collins campaign claimed to be unfamiliar with Wood but took a swipe at his years of experience in liberal politics, which include senior roles with Porter and the left-wing campaign-finance reform group End Citizens United.

“We welcome Jordon (sic) Wood to the race. Neither the senator nor her staff knows Mr. Wood, but we understand that he was a key advisor to a left-wing congresswoman from California and has worked for some far-left progressive groups,” Collins campaign spokesman Shawn Roderick said. “We look forward to debating our very different visions for Maine if he is the nominee next year.”

Wood pledged to reject campaign money from corporate PACs and lobbyists. His experience centers on “taking on the powerful, fighting to get corporate money out of our politics, holding CEOs accountable as Katie Porter’s chief of staff, and defeating election deniers.”

Wood is the second Democrat to enter the race in what could become a competitive primary. Democrat Natasha Alcala registered earlier this year. She also filed for the 2024 cycle against Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who caucuses with the Democrats, but withdrew before the primary.

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Republicans Daniel Smeriglio, an activist and former police officer, and Carmen Calabrese have filed to run against Collins on the GOP side.

Phillip Rench, a former senior engineer for Musk’s SpaceX, is running as an independent.