From left: Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Sara Gideon gives a short pep talk to canvassers in the parking lot of a Portland strip mall on Tuesday afternoon. Sen. Susan Collins waves to supporters across the street as she exits the Aroostook Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday. Credit: Troy R. Bennet and Linda Coan O’Kresik | BDN

Incumbent Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Sara Gideon made their way throughout the state on Tuesday for last-minute campaigning as the most expensive race in Maine history came to a close.

The duo started their days in Aroostook and Penobscot counties, with Collins opening her day at the Caribou fire station, and Gideon starting off at a canvass launch in Bangor. Throughout the day, the Senate candidates made their way throughout the state, and BDN photographers were there to capture their last-minute campaigning.

Clockwise from left: Collins stopped by Smith & Wesson in Houlton on Tuesday to visit workers as she spent Election Day visiting Mainers across Aroostook County before heading to Bangor for the evening; Collins laughs with David Beal (right), co-owner of Beal’s Country Store; Collins stopped in at the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday where she thanked law enforcement officers for keeping the community safe; Collins returns to the bus in Houlton. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik | BDN

Clockwise from left: Gideon speaks to a group of supporters in Bath on Tuesday morning; Gideon announces the start to a canvassing kickoff event in Bangor; Gideon speaks with a voter outside the polls in Brunswick; Gideon talks to supporters at a canvassing kickoff event; Gideon gives a short pep talk to canvassers in the parking lot of a Portland strip mall on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: Troy R. Bennett and Natalie Williams | BDN

Collins chats with Leslie Cullins in Beal’s Country Store in Monticello where she stopped in for lunch on Tuesday while visiting Mainers across Aroostook County on Election Day. Cullins, who lives next door to the store, saw Collins’ bus pull in and said she had to go see her. “She helped save my job back in 2005. Her and Olympia [Snowe],” Cullins said about her Department of Defense job in Limestone. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik | BDN
Gideon talks with voters outside the Freeport polls in her hometown on Tuesday. Credit: Troy R. Bennett | BDN

Clockwise from left: Collins elbow bumps corrections officer Shanna Morrison during a stop at the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office; Collins visits workers at Smith & Wesson in Houlton; Collins (left) hands Piper Woollard a T-shirt supporting her re-election as she tours a Penobscot-McCrum potato processing facility in Washburn; Collins smiles as she tours Penobscot-McCrum; Collins stopped at Beal’s Country Store in Monticello to get lunch. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik and David Marino Jr. | BDN

Clockwise from left: Gideon speaks with the media in Portland on Tuesday afternoon; Gideon chats at a canvassing kickoff event in Bangor; Gideon talks to supporters; Gideon (center right) stands among local candidates outside the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor; Gideon waves to voters as they enter the Cross Insurance Center. Credit: Troy R. Bennett and Natalie Williams | BDN

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Troy R. Bennett

Troy R. Bennett is a Buxton native and longtime Portland resident whose photojournalism has appeared in media outlets all over the world.