Susan Collins Distances Herself From Trump in Bid to Keep Maine Senate Seat

Maine Senator Susan Collins sought to distance herself from President Donald Trump in her first debate with Democratic challenger Troy Jackson in a pivotal US Senate race.

After Trump indicated he may come to Maine for a rally, Collins deflected when asked by the moderator during Tuesday’s debate if she would appear with the president. “I don’t think that President Trump is going to come to Maine. He’s talking about going to a lot of different states. I’ve heard nothing from his office, and I’m not exactly his favorite senator,” she said.

The Republican senator also highlighted moments in which she has pushed back on the president’s agenda and won changes that have benefited Mainers, including an exemption for road salt from Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports. Jackson, a fifth-generation logger, retorted, “What about everything else? We can’t eat road salt.”

Democrats are seeking to capitalize on Trump’s unpopularity in Maine, a state he’s lost three times, to oust Collins from a seat she’s held for almost 30 years. The Maine race is crucial to both parties’ quest to win a Senate majority in November’s midterm elections.

Polls have consistently shown a tight race, with a Marist University survey this week putting Jackson up 51% to 47%. Collins led by 3 points in a New York Times and Siena University poll last month. There are three more debates scheduled in October.

The rising cost of living featured prominently in the first debate. Since 2021, home prices in Maine have jumped more than in all but three states. And just as nighttime temperatures in much of Maine fall to near freezing, heating oil recently rose to a record, with an implied cost of about $1,500 to fill up a standard residential tank that typically will have to be replenished a few times to make it through the winter.

Read More: Maine’s $1,500 Heating Bills Upend Drama-Filled Senate Race

Collins argued the state government — where Jackson was formerly Senate president — is responsible for the squeeze through its policies on property taxes and energy. Jackson attempted to lay blame for the rising costs with the federal government, linking Collins to unpopular Trump policies that have contributed to higher prices including the war in Iran. Jackson contended several times that Collins has voted in support of Trump’s agenda 96% of the time, a figure Collins disputed.

Jackson also accused Collins of being beholden to billionaire donors and out of touch, saying that since she’s had insurance throughout her multi-decade career in government, she’s unable to understand what it’s like for people to be afraid to get the care they need because of the cost. She retorted that she went without health insurance for one year when she was running for governor, in 1994.

Abortion was another major topic of discussion. The debate fell on the eight-year anniversary of Collins’ vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice, cementing a conservative majority that would eventually overturn a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion in 2022. Jackson pressed Collins repeatedly on the issue, asking, “What will it take for you to admit that you were wrong?”

Collins said she was disappointed in the decision but defended her vote for Kavanaugh. She also pointed to Jackson’s own mixed voting record on abortion measures. Jackson, who entered politics as a Republican a quarter-century ago before quickly switching parties, voted for measures that restricted abortion access early in his career before changing his position.