EDITOR'S NOTE - This reporting comes from Spectrum News and Syracuse University's Newhouse School's partnership.

By: Evan Fay

NORTH HAVEN, M.E. - A crew of masons traded insults and jokes in thick Maine accents while they rolled a slab smooth. Their boss, Andrew Bonarrigo, wore a beanie and worked shoulder to shoulder with them, cement on his sleeves like everyone else’s.

That day, Michael Fitzgerald was on the other side of the island, laying brick on a different project, dust covering his clothes. He’s a lifelong Mainer, too.

Come Tuesday, the two men will cancel each other out. Bonarrigo is voting for Republican Susan Collins. Fitzgerald, a bricklayer on his crew, is voting for Democrat Troy Jackson in a race that could help decide which party controls the U.S. Senate.

“I feel that she’s taking care of this state and they only want to go after her about how she’s always sided with Trump on everything,” Bonarrigo said.

Fitzgerald doesn’t buy Collins’ reputation as a moderate.

“That’s a game that I see them playing where she votes against her party only when the votes are secured for whatever her party particularly wants,” Fitzgerald said.

Jackson, who replaced Graham Platner on the ballot in July, earned his vote on labor.

“Throughout his career, he’s definitely advocated for workers,” Fitzgerald said.

He’s no party loyalist, though.

“Now, I’m not saying the Democrats are really that much better,” Fitzgerald said.

The cost of fuel hits the two men in different places. Fitzgerald’s home heating oil tank is running low.

“I have to fill up my oil tank really soon. It’s getting low. And I’m dreading that, because I think the price is somewhere between $5 and $6 a gallon right now for home heating oil. So to fill it up, there’s $1,200 to $1,500 bucks. See you. Gone. I mean, literally last year at this time, it was half of that,” Fitzgerald said.

The state’s weekly survey put Maine’s average at a record $6.05 a gallon as of Oct. 26. Prices have climbed since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran in February. Fitzgerald blames the war, and he said Collins is behind it.

Bonarrigo says the fuel his crews burn getting to work barely registers.

“It’s a little bit more a gallon, but when you break it down to a mileage thing, it really is not a lot more money,” Bonarrigo said.

Both men want more substance from the campaign. Bonarrigo doesn’t mind the ads. He just wants them to say more.

“I want to hear what you’re gonna do for the state and how you’re gonna make it better,” he said.

Fitzgerald has had enough of them.

“It’d be nice if any of the ads actually focused on real issues,” he said.

He said the economy and foreign policy matter most, and the fringe issues that dominate the debate don’t.

“Certain things, certain issues, if you really think about it, they might only affect you like maybe 1 percent of your entire life. So does that really matter that much?” Fitzgerald said.

Asked what he’d tell voters, Bonarrigo kept it nonpartisan.

“Everybody needs to get out and vote,” he said. “And I think vote with common sense, no matter who your candidates are.”

When the polls close Tuesday, the race may not be over. Six write-in candidates qualified for the Senate contest. If neither Collins nor Jackson clears 50 percent on election night, the votes will be counted using ranked-choice voting.