Democrats are desperate to find a solid candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in 2026. Five times before they’ve tried, and failed each time.

Collins announced her reelection bid last November, a big change from 2020, when she waited until December 2019 before launching her Maine-record fifth Senate campaign. She’ll be 80 when a sixth term would end, not ancient today: Angus King will be 86 following his third Senate term.

Collins has led a charmed political life. Her initial victory in 1996 came after two better-known candidates in the GOP primary, Robert Monks and John Hathaway, feuded and canceled each out. She won in November over a perennial Democratic candidate, former Gov. Joe Brennan, who lost his third straight statewide race.

Her luck might be running out. The second coming of Donald Trump — who she said she wouldn’t vote for in 2016 before holding her tongue in 2020 and 2024 — is a major problem for Collins. She’s not only the last Republican senator in New England, but the only GOP New Englander among 32 Democrats in the House and Senate.

For starters, there’s the chaos Trump produced through his ever-shifting tariffs, already recording the first of two quarters of negative economic growth that define a recession.

Then there’s the controversial Cabinet selections, led by vaccine-averse Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Collins voted for, not to mention Trump’s still-expanding retaliations against Maine after Gov. Janet Mills dared defy him.

Democrats, meanwhile, see Mills as their best hope of breaking Collins’ spell. They know that showering a minor candidate like former House Speaker Sara Gideon with $100 million — who Collins beat decisively even as Trump lost in 2020 — won’t work; someone already known to voters is essential.

Mills comes with assets, including majority triumphs in the 2018 and 2022 governor’s races, though she faced less-than-stellar opponents. Paul LePage was even further past his prime than Brennan in his 2022 comeback attempt, and his new 2nd District bid changes little, since he’s 76 and mostly lives in Florida.

For Mills, too, age is an issue; she’s five years older than Collins. She won her first office, district attorney, in 1980.

And despite Mills’ electrifying retort to Trump, “See you in court,” it’s unknown — even among her confidants — whether she really wants to run. The only certainty is increasing pressure from state and national parties.

Normally Democrats would look for a younger candidate contrasting with Maine’s very senior senator, and they have one, though no one’s uttered his name publicly.

That would be Jared Golden, Maine’s 2nd District congressman just reelected to a fourth term despite herculean MAGA efforts to oust him. Golden is 42, presumably in his prime, and if he’s ever going to run for Senate now is the time.

The reason Golden hasn’t been “mentioned” for Senate is because he’s relentlessly mentioned for governor. Republicans are keen on him running because not only would it leave a coveted House seat open but would scramble the Democratic primary.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is in, and former Senate President Troy Jackson almost in. Angus King III, son of the current senator, announced on Tuesday while Hannah Pingree, former House speaker and daughter of 1st District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, is another likely candidate.

Amid this field, Golden could have a rough ride; he’s alienated many Democrats by predicting Trump’s 2024 victory (“I’m OK with that”) and embracing universal tariffs. Even worse is his silence as Trump rampages through the federal government, illegally firing thousands of tenured employees, trying to cancel whole agencies and impounding congressionally appropriated funding in defiance not only of the law but multiple Supreme Court precedents.

Golden would have to execute an anti-Trump makeover to make a credible opponent for Collins, but there’s lots of time, and stranger things have happened; just read the news.

The 2nd District is prime territory for Senate campaigns. Three-term Rep. William Hathaway ousted legendary Sen. Margaret Chase Smith in 1972, while equally young Bill Cohen then defeated Hathaway in 1978, also after three House terms.

In a rare Senate matchup of incumbent House members, the 2nd District’s Olympia Snowe easily defeated the 1st District’s Tom Andrews in 1994, though Andrews earlier made the fatal error of endorsing a military base closing list including Loring in Limestone.

In a predominantly Democratic state, the last Democrat elected senator — in 1988 — was George Mitchell, who then had six successful years as majority leader.

Democrats believe 2026 could be their moment. Mills has first dibs, but if she passes, get ready — unlikely as it seems — for a Jared Golden moment.