After serving for 23 years as a popular U.S. senator, Maine Republican Susan Collins appears to be in trouble.
“When I first moved here, I was a huge Susan Collins fan, but I’m incredibly disappointed in her in the last couple of years,” said Kristen Dalton of South Berwick.
The latest poll, released by Colby College Tuesday, shows Collins trailing Democrat Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, by five points.
Dalton provided one reason why some Mainers have had a change of heart: her choice to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“I was not happy at all with her Brett Kavanaugh decision. I have not felt, since Trump became president, that any of her decisions have seemed to have Mainers in her best interest,” Dalton said.
Opponents also point to Collins‘ impeachment vote to acquit the president and her silence on recent reports that Russia paid bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Former New Hampshire Republican Party Chair Jennifer Horn -- now a founding member of the Lincoln Project, a group working to take down Trump and his so-called enablers -- said Collins' relationship with Trump is crucial in November's election.
“It doesn’t matter if Susan Collins is conservative or moderate or anything else. What matters is, is she strong enough to stand up to Donald Trump?” Horn said
Jack Hathaway of York says yes, she is: “I think she challenges President Trump and other Republicans with making sure we’re doing the right thing.”
He is part of Collins still-solid base of support. It also includes Mark Rouillard of North Berwick.
He said Collins “votes both sides and I think we need to see more of that in the government today.”
So with the balance of the U.S. Senate possibly at stake, this contest will likely come down to voters like Lee Remick, who is still trying to decide.
He's not happy with Collins and considering Gideon, who he said “brings that sort-of-like-mom, sort-of-reality to the table. But by the same token, you know, she’s untested, untried.”
Gideon proposed five debates between now and election day. Collins responded by calling for 16 debates. A compromise has not yet been reached.
