PORTLAND, Maine — An entrenched senator distrusted by both parties. A governor born just 18 months after 79-year-old Donald Trump. An oyster farmer who for years walked around with a Nazi symbol tattoo. Anti-gay remarks in a state generally regarded as welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. Pockets of deep Trump loyalty in a state that he lost three times. Traditional resistance to outsiders and the likelihood of a flood of out-of-state spending.

Maine is about to hold one of the most hard-fought, colorful, dramatic, gripping, emotional, bitter, idiosyncratic, thesaurus-busting Senate races of the age. Also, maybe, the most consequential.

Welcome to Susan Collins versus Janet Mills. Or maybe Susan Collins versus Graham Platner. Surely Susan Collins versus a cascade of campaign spending. Maybe a das

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