Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a vulnerable Republican, and Troy Jackson, her Democratic challenger, sparred on Tuesday over health care, the war in Iran and the senator’s record in a policy-heavy and sometimes tense debate.
The showdown, held at a TV studio in Bangor, was the third of four scheduled debates in a hotly contested race that could be critical to determining which party controls the Senate.
Here are five takeaways from the hourlong debate.
Collins pointed to her clout. Jackson said she used it to enable Trump.
The debate closed with an exchange that distilled one of the overarching disputes in the race.
Throughout the debate, Ms. Collins, who is chair of the influential Appropriations Committee, highlighted areas where she said she had used her power to deliver for Maine, securing benefits for Mainers even in legislation she ultimately opposed.
Mr. Jackson argued in his closing remarks that she had instead used her power to enable President Trump.
“Tonight I believe you heard two very different ideas of what a senator owes the people of Maine,” Mr. Jackson said. “Senator Collins wants credit for her power. I believe you have to be responsible for what you do with it.”
Ms. Collins, in her own closing remarks, suggested that Mr. Jackson would lack her ability to deliver for the state — saying he “struggled to get his bills passed” as a state lawmaker.
“When you live in a small state like Maine, who you send to Washington really matters,” Ms. Collins said. “I have proven time and time again that I deliver.”
Collins said Jackson ‘insulted my integrity.’
At one point, the debate turned tense and personal.
When Ms. Collins said she was concerned about fraud in Medicare and Medicaid programs, Mr. Jackson pointed to a report that the F.B.I. last year shut down an inquiry into corruption allegations against a political adviser to Ms. Collins.
“I am shocked that you are talking about fraud because there’s only one person up here that’s been accused of that by the F.B.I.,” Mr. Jackson said.
Ms. Collins has not been accused of fraud by the F.B.I. Last month, ProPublica reported that the agency had looked into Ms. Collins’s interactions with a donor seeking federal contracts. The inquiry was closed under the Trump administration.
The senator bristled at Mr. Jackson’s assertion.
“Troy has repeatedly insulted my integrity all evening long,” Ms. Collins said, adding, “He lied when he said that I was under investigation and found to have committed fraud by the F.B.I.”
Mr. Jackson replied, “I didn’t say that she was guilty; I said that they were investigating.”
The Iran war was a focal point.
Mr. Jackson said Ms. Collins was to blame for the war in Iran, which has caused a surge in energy prices.
Ms. Collins said that she was aligned with Democrats on the war, and that the president had erred in his execution of the conflict.
“Troy and I agree that the war should come to end,” said Ms. Collins, who has voted against the war since April, after initially supporting it.
She added: “I agree that the president did not have a good plan. He should have anticipated the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Ms. Collins noted that there were not enough votes in Congress to force the president to withdraw from the conflict.
“Senator Susan Collins says that she voted against it nine times, but she didn’t have the votes,” Mr. Jackson said. “Well that sounds like then we probably ought to have Democrats in charge of the U.S. Senate so that we have the votes.”
So was heating oil.
From the start of the debate, Mr. Jackson blamed Ms. Collins for a surge in fuel oil costs caused by the war in Iran — an issue that is hitting hard in Maine, where half the homes are warmed with heating oil.
“I would get us out of the Iran war, unlike Senator Collins,” Jackson said, declaring that the senator “does whatever Donald Trump wants.”
Ms. Collins emphasized that she had helped expedite the release of federal heating assistance for lower-income Maine residents.
Mr. Jackson dismissed the move as a “short-term Band-Aid” for a challenge that would be “horrific for people in this state.”
“What about the back-end, when that money’s all spent?” Mr. Jackson said. “People are still going to be struggling to fill their oil tanks.
And a dispute on health care got heated.
The debate included a granular discussion of health care, with Mr. Jackson claiming that Ms. Collins had supported cuts to health care funding in the president’s signature domestic policy law.
Ms. Collins, who helped enable the passage of the bill by voting yes on a procedural vote, noted that she had ultimately voted against it. She accused Mr. Jackson of misrepresenting her record. And she said she and Mr. Jackson were aligned in their opposition to the bill — but that she had been able to secure funding for rural health care in Maine in the law.
Mr. Jackson suggested Ms. Collins was twisting his words.
“I didn’t say that she voted for it,” Mr. Jackson said. “I said she advanced it.”
The discussion ultimately devolved into an argument about Mr. Jackson’s understanding of health care policy.
Ms. Collins said Mr. Jackson was “confusing the Medicaid program with the Medicare program.”
Mr. Jackson appeared to be offended.
“Senator Collins is not going to stand there and school me on what I know,” he replied.
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