2008 United States Senate election in Maine
Open-knowledge reference entry
The 2008 United States Senate election in Maine was held on November 4, 2008, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Maine. Republican incumbent Susan Collins won re-election to a third term, defeating Democratic congressman Tom Allen.
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
Susan Collins, incumbent U.S. senator (1997–present)
Endorsements
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominee
Tom Allen, U.S. representative from ME-01 (1997–2009)
Eliminated in primary
Thomas Ledue, educator
Results
General election
Campaign
Allen tried to tie Collins to George W. Bush, the tactics of which failed, as Collins maintained her image as a popular, moderate, independent Republican.
When Collins was first elected in 1996, she pledged to serve only two terms (twelve years) in office, which would have ended in January 2009. She decided to seek a third term and defeated Allen with over 60% of the vote. She was the only Republican Senate candidate to win in 2008 in a state that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama simultaneously won.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “2008 United States Senate election in Maine” as open-knowledge reference entry. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as open-knowledge reference entry. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7891592. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2008, 1997, 2009 and 1996.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “2008 United States Senate election in Maine”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 2008 United States Senate election in Maine primary sources, 2008 United States Senate election in Maine archive and United research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “2008 United States Senate election in Maine”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “2008 United States Senate election in Maine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.