Maine Republican Susan Collins has promoted her reputation as one of the most independent U.S. senators and she is using the waning days of the election season to sell that message to voters by campaigning with a former Democratic colleague who has endorsed her.
asserted
who → promote → her
Collins is trying to fend off a challenge from Democrat Troy Jackson, a onetime state Senate president, and on Wednesday she made appearances with Joe Manchin, a West Virginian who became an independent late in his career before retiring.
asserted
who → try → career
After stopping for breakfast at Simones’ Hot Dog Stand in Lewiston, Collins spoke of how she and Manchin were “part of every piece of bipartisan legislation that passed and became law” during their time together in office.
asserted
that → stop → office
Manchin said to lose Collins would be “to lose the soul of the Senate.”
asserted
lose → say → Senate
He praised her independent streak, her willingness to buck Republican President Donald Trump and her record of fighting for Maine’s interests.
asserted
He → praise → interests
“This is a true blue-blooded Maine person who knows exactly where she came from,” Manchin said.
asserted
Manchin → know → where
They planned a stop later a New Balance shoe facility in Norway.
asserted
They → plan → Norway
Jackson, 58, is scheduled to campaign Thursday in Portland with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive congresswoman from New York.
asserted
Jackson → schedule → York
Collins, 73, is in what may be her toughest reelection fight as she seeks her sixth term.
uncertain
she → seek → term
It’s only the second time that she’s sought reelection in a midterm with a sitting Republican president, and the national trends are much less favorable to the GOP than they were the last time she did so, in 2002.
asserted
she → ’ → 2002
Trump’s approval has fallen well below where it was when he took office last year, and a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that a strong majority of voters want change in Washington.
asserted
majority → fall → Washington
‘We need more people like Susan Collins’
Collins has been working to persuade voters that she is independent of Trump and willing to break with him.
asserted
she → need → him
In Manchin, she enlisted a politician who was one of the most moderate voices in the Senate.
asserted
who → enlist → Senate
Manchin said in 2023 that Trump would “ destroy democracy in America” if he was elected to a second term.
asserted
he → say → term
“I may not have always been a fan of her complete package of votes, but when I look at the vitriol that’s in the U.S. Senate right now, we need more people like Susan Collins,” he said.
uncertain
he → look → Collins
Jackson got a late start on campaigning after the party’s initial nominee existed the race, but trails Collins in the money race by less than $3 million after an aggressive quarter in which he raised more than $20 million.
asserted
he → get → million
Jackson has campaigned relentlessly and his events have drawn hundreds.
asserted
events → campaign → hundreds
Collins has largely stuck to smaller appearances.
asserted
Collins → stick → appearances
Some of Jackson’s backers demonstrated across the street from the hot dog stand.
asserted
Some → demonstrate → stand
A few held signs bearing the face of Brett Kavanaugh, the U.S. Supreme Court justice whom Collins voted to confirm and whose vote eventually helped overturn the constitutional right to abortion.
asserted
vote → hold → abortion
“Someone needs to stand up and be a check on Donald Trump and his harmful policies,” said David Sysko.
asserted
Sysko → need → Trump
Collins’ loyalty to Trump has been a central focus of the race
Collins has broken with Trump and Republicans over the years.
asserted
Collins → break → years
She voted to convict him at his impeachment trial in 2021.
asserted
She → vote → 2021
Increasingly during the campaign, she has worked to distance herself from the president as Democrats argue that she is too close to him.
asserted
she → work → him
Collins said in early October that she is “not exactly his favorite senator,” and that she did not expect Trump to campaign in Maine.
asserted
Trump → say → Maine
He has steered clear of the state with the Nov. 3 election nearing.
asserted
election → steer → state
Pinning Collins to Trump is central to the Democrats’ strategy.
asserted
Pinning → pin → strategy
In one ad, a nurse says the state is in a healthcare crisis “because of Susan Collins and Donald Trump,” citing Collins’ vote for Trump’s push for Medicaid cuts.
asserted
state → say → cuts
Collins did vote to advance the bill, but ultimately voted against it.
asserted
Collins → vote → it
Trump also was a major focus of four contentious debates between the candidates this month, where Collins sought to distance herself from the president and Jackson repeatedly accused her of doing Trump’s bidding.
asserted
Jackson → seek → bidding
Asked at the final debate to name a time in which she bucked her own party and succeeded, Collins gave the example of rallying support against Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth, who was confirmed as defense secretary.
asserted
who → ask → secretary
Democrats seized on the moment and released a statement that said the exchange “underscores a central question in the Maine Senate race: Does Collins, a Republican in a state that disapproves of President Donald Trump and has grown bluer in recent years, stand up to her party enough to earn the independent streak she has staked her career on?”
asserted
she → seize → career
Jackson has characterized Collins as out of touch with the struggles of working-class people in Maine.
asserted
Jackson → characterize → Maine
He has described Collins as a “rubber stamp” for the president and criticized her votes on Kavanaugh and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s second-term health secretary.
asserted
He → describe → Kavanaugh
Collins has said she does not regret either vote.
asserted
she → say → vote
Republicans have cast Jackson as a bully
Republican ads against Jackson, a logger from northern Maine, have focused more on accusations of his having a volatile personality and behaving like a bully with female colleagues.
asserted
his → cast → colleagues
Jackson has denied those accusations.
asserted
Jackson → deny → accusations
Collins distanced herself on Wednesday from a Republican super PAC attack ad that she said “should be taken down.”
asserted
she → distance → ad
The senator was a top target of Democrats in 2020 when she defeated challenger Sara Gideon by nearly 9 percentage points.
asserted
she → defeat → points
Collins is the only Republican senator from New England, a distinction she has had since January 2013.
asserted
she → have → January
The Aporia
