Troy Jackson may not have been the Democrats' first choice to take on longtime Maine Sen. Susan Collins this November, but, on Tuesday, he turned out to be the person who could defeat the five-term incumbent and claim the seat his party has long coveted.

What they're saying: "For every family doing everything they can and wondering when somebody is going to do something for them, you have gotten me into this and you're going to have someone who is fighting for you in Washington, D.C.," Jackson told the crowd at an election night party in Portland.

The other side: Collins, 73, was widely perceived as the most vulnerable Senate Republican this election year.