Sen. Susan Collins is facing the toughest campaign of her political career.
Collins, 67, who was first elected to the Senate in 1996, is facing a challenge from Maine state House Speaker Sara Gideon, a Democrat who has been a state and local officeholder for a decade.
Collins is considered a centrist Republican who doesn’t always vote party line and publicly stated her reasons as to why she chose not to support President Trump in 2016.
For most of her congressional career, Collins won her races by large margins with the ability to garner bipartisan support. But following Trump’s rise to the White House, her popularity has been in decline, despite her reputation as being an independent lawmaker.
Collins came under national pressure and became a liberal target after she voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 after speculation that she might oppose him. Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault amid his fiery confirmation process. He denies the allegations.
Collins’s vote for Kavanaugh has been used in Democratic attack ads, while the anti-Trump, conservative-run Lincoln Project painted her as being controlled by Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Now, with the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Collins has been thrust back into the national spotlight after saying the Senate should wait until after the upcoming election to vote on a nominee, a stance that breaks away from many of her party members.
“I think Susan Collins is very badly hurt by her statement,” Trump said, regarding Collins’s stray from his move to nominate a justice before November.
Gideon, 48, has received national interest from Democrats, who view the race as an opportunity to flip Collins’s vulnerable Senate seat. It’s part of a broader plan to upend Senate Republicans’ current 53-47 majority.
Gideon is running a campaign with the theme of “Maine first,” focusing strongly on kitchen table issues such as healthcare. Gideon also has emphasized the need to strengthen public health options in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The speaker has been critical of Senate Republicans for recessing before being able to pass another coronavirus relief bill and has also attacked Collins for praising Trump on most of his handling of the pandemic, which has killed over 200,000 people in the United States.
In the wake of the heated fight over the Supreme Court, Gideon also pointed to Collins’s history of backing Trump’s nominees to fill the federal judiciary.
“Senator Collins has voted to confirm over 180 of Donald Trump’s unqualified, far-right judicial nominees,” Gideon tweeted. “Mainers deserve a senator who will stand up for their rights—and that’s why we have to win this race.”
The Maine race, one of the most closely watched in the country, is said to be a “toss up” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Republicans are fighting to hold onto their narrow Senate majority with several seats at risk of being flipped in favor of Democratic challengers. Republicans currently hold 53 seats, and Democrats have 45 seats. There are also two independents who caucus with Democrats.
