More than $200 million was spent in Maine’s U.S. Senate race in 2020, a historic figure that raised eyebrows and became a case study for advocates of campaign finance reform.

Six years later, as Democrats bank on progressive Graham Platner and Republicans look to defend five-term U.S. Sen. Susan Collins to keep hold of the Senate, that record is about to be obliterated in political advertising alone.

Overall ad spending in Maine this election cycle could reach almost $500 million, according to the latest projection from AdImpact. The amount is driven by a whopping new estimate of $384 million in the Collins-Platner race alone, making the contest the fourth-most expensive Senate race in the country behind Texas, Michigan and Georgia. The races for the 2nd Congressional District and governor could also see heavy spending.

The new estimate nearly doubles what AdImpact previously expected in Maine’s Senate race. It comes after contentious primary season spending and after Platner weathered a string of controversies in the fall and recent weeks to secure the Democratic nomination.

More than $150 million in ads through Election Day have already been booked in the race, about $100 million of it by Collins-aligned groups. But Democrats — who outspent Republicans in former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon’s losing bid in 2020 — are sure to catch up as they push to take back Congress from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

“From record-setting races and surging party committee war chests to a competitive landscape that continues to expand, all indicators point to 2026 being the most expensive political advertising cycle in history,” AdImpact said in its report.

Nationwide, AdImpact expects $11.6 billion in ad spending this year, up from the 2023-2024 cycle’s record $11.2 billion. Political spending has exploded nationwide since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission.

Ads are also increasingly costly in Maine. A candidate’s 30-second spot in Portland cost an average of almost $250 in 2020, compared with $314 this year. But the rate for a 30-second ad from an issue group has nearly doubled, at almost $945 compared to $490 in 2020, according to AdImpact. Stations must give candidates priority and their lowest rates.

Month-by-month averages have fluctuated this year, but issue groups that have dominated the airwaves have seen costs rise each of the last three months, with the current average for 30 seconds of airtime almost $1,600.

Running on a message of overhauling the power structure in Washington, Platner has proven a solid fundraiser who effectively booted Gov. Janet Mills from the Senate race. Collins and her allies have offered ads touting the senator’s track record of bringing home federal investment and others targeting Platner’s background, from a Nazi-linked tattoo he’s since covered to offensive social media comments and alleged toxic behavior in past relationships.

Platner outraised Collins between January of last year and May, about $16 million to more than $12 million. Platner has almost $350,000 in ads booked from the day after he won the primary through Election Day. Platner’s bid has received a boost of almost $11 million combined in ads going after Collins from the nonprofit dark money groups Majority Forward, Unrig Our Economy and Duty and Honor.

The Collins campaign hasn’t booked nearly as many ads yet between this week and Election Day. But she has significant help from dark money political action committees such as One Nation and Pine Tree Results PAC, which have already been running ads and have booked more than $46 million million combined so far.

Pine Tree Results has seen at least $1 million in donations from the Lexington Fund-connected Republican legal activist Leonard Leo, and $2.5 million from Florida hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin. Nearly 100 billionaires and their spouses have donated almost $10 million collectively to Collins’ network since the beginning of last year, The Maine Monitor reported.

The Winning for Women Action Fund, a super PAC boosting Republican women, has booked $16 million in pro-Collins ads. Her campaign has also received more than $538,000 from at least 315 individual donors bundled through AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group.

Collins’ campaign and allies make the case that Platner will likely pick up just as much if not more super PAC and dark money donations, including from billionaires. They also say while some wealthy donors give based on ideology, many are more focused on stable government, leading them to embrace the longtime lawmaker and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Platner has rallied progressives around the argument that the money flowing into politics leads to votes that too often help donors, not working Mainers. His campaign on Friday pointed to his endorsement in May by the anti-corruption group End Citizens United, which accuses Collins of never meeting “a corporate PAC check she didn’t like.”

“We’re building a movement to get money out of politics and build a government that represents working people, not billionaires,” Platner said at the time.

American Promise, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit pressing for a constitutional amendment to empower states and Congress to regulate campaign fundraising and spending, has made progress, according to spokesperson Jenny Parker. Idaho in April became the 25th state to formally urge Congress to move on the issue.

“Fifty years of Supreme Court rulings mean voters don’t have a say over the rules,” she said. “Our solution is seeing very strong momentum, and it is across parties.”

Another person injured in the lumber mill fire and explosion in Searsmont, Maine, last month has died, officials said Sunday.

Wayne Woodbury, 76, died Sunday morning at Maine Medical Center, the Office of State Fire Marshal announced. He’d been part of the response to a May 15 fire at Robbins Lumber that led to a silo explosion. Another firefighter died, and a dozen people were hospitalized.

Woodbury was the town’s assistant fire chief. Chief James Ames was injured and later released.

“The Office of State Fire Marshal extends its sincere condolences to his family, friends, and the members of the Searsmont Fire Department during this difficult time,” the fire marshal’s office said in a statement.

Investigators have determined that the fire was accidental, but the investigation is ongoing.

Maine State Fire Marshal

Maine State Fire Marshal

The fire and explosion caused a massive blaze that brought in firefighters from around the region. The firefighter who previously died was identified as 27-year-old Andrew Cross, of the Morrill Fire Department.

Mass General Hospital in Boston is treating two other patients from the mill. They were both listed as critical as of Saturday afternoon.

Sheri Biller is a cancer care advocate, philanthropist and the co-founder and president of The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation. Brandon Hotham is the president and CEO of the Dempsey Center.

Anyone who has faced cancer — or stood beside someone who has — knows that cancer is not just a medical condition. It is a life-altering experience that affects every part of a person’s world.

And yet, too often, patients and their caregivers are left to navigate that journey alone. That’s especially true in rural communities like many across Maine, where access to comprehensive support can be limited.

As a national cancer care advocate and as the leader of Maine’s Dempsey Center that provides cancer care services, we know it doesn’t have to be this way.

There is growing recognition of an approach to care called supportive cancer care — a model that focuses on treating the whole person, not just the disease. Supportive cancer care goes beyond clinical treatments like chemotherapy, radiation and surgery and includes a broad range of services such as financial guidance, counseling, pain and symptom management, caregiver support and help navigating practical challenges like transportation, insurance and goals-of-care conversations.

These services are delivered across both healthcare and community-based settings, often through a combination of providers and organizations working together to support patients and families throughout their cancer journey.

When these systems work well, the impact is clear. Access to supportive care improves quality of life and treatment adherence, reduces unnecessary emergency room visits and helps patients and families feel more confident navigating an incredibly complex experience. Just as importantly, it reinforces something deeply human: no one should have to face cancer alone.

Maine is helping show what’s possible in cancer care for the whole person.

The Dempsey Center is part of that broader network — providing community-based, evidence-informed supportive cancer care services that complement clinical treatment. We offer counseling, nutrition support, integrative therapies, movement and fitness programs and caregiver support, all designed to meet the evolving needs of individuals and families affected by cancer.

As a nonprofit organization, these services are provided at no cost to clients and are made possible entirely through philanthropy — through the generosity of donors, sponsors and community members who believe that everyone deserves access to this kind of care.

You can see the power of that community every year through the Dempsey Challenge, where thousands of participants — from Maine and around the world — come together to raise critical funds that sustain these services and ensure that no one faces cancer alone. As the need for these services continues to grow, so too does the importance of that support.

Maine is also making meaningful progress at the policy level. The state has taken important steps to support access to palliative care through MaineCare reimbursement, reinforcing that supportive care is not a luxury, but an essential part of high-quality cancer care. Initiatives like Maine’s specialty cancer license plates further invest in programs that provide patient support, fund research and expand access to care across the state.

Across Maine, a growing network of community-based supportive cancer care organizations — including members of the Association of Maine Cancer Support Centers — is working collectively to expand access to these services for as many Mainers as possible. And yet, despite this progress, access remains far from universal — both in Maine and across the country.

Nationally, only a fraction of patients can access supportive cancer care services like counseling, financial navigation or structured conversations about goals of care. Even when services exist, patients may not know to ask for them — or may assume they are not accessible or affordable. This leaves too many people and their loved ones carrying burdens they should not have to carry alone.

We need to continue building and strengthening these networks of care — across Maine and across the country. That means investing in community-based organizations, supporting policies that expand access and ensuring that patients and caregivers understand what supportive cancer care is and how to access it.

That’s also why the Dempsey Center is proud to support Support Is Care, a national campaign by The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation. It’s focused on helping people living with cancer and those who love them understand that this kind of support exists, that it’s part of high-quality care and that everyone has every right to ask their provider for it.

Last month, we gathered in our nation’s capital alongside providers, patients, caregivers and advocates from across our country — uplifting their voices, sharing their stories and advancing the case for supportive cancer care on Capitol Hill. We have to make sure that supportive cancer care is more widely understood, more consistently delivered and more equitably accessible.

Supportive cancer care isn’t “nice to have” — it’s a “must-have.” Research continues to show that when people have access to this kind of support, their outcomes and quality of life improve, and they experience fewer unnecessary visits to the emergency room.

Our work cannot stop there. We must all commit to building and sustaining the networks that make supportive cancer care accessible to everyone — regardless of where they live. That means continued investment in community-based programs, training providers and ensuring that every patient — regardless of ZIP code — knows what supportive cancer care is and feels empowered to ask for it.

No one should face cancer alone. Ask your providers about supportive cancer care. Advocate for systems that expand access. And consider how you can be part of the solution — whether by supporting community-based organizations or by showing up for those in your community who need help — because strength is built through connection, and connection starts with us.

Together, we can create a world where every patient and caregiver affected by cancer feels supported and heard.