Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth talks with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, after a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, July 21, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Credit: Jacquelyn Martin / AP

Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to letters@bangordailynews.com

I urge Maine citizens to recognize the immense power we grant our elected officials. It’s crucial to know their personalities and skills. Voters need to be informed and be allowed to advocate about the world we want to live in and to review voting records by candidates that meet those objectives.

I believe Sen. Susan Collins doesn’t trust the citizens of Maine to support her in her bid for a sixth term. She continues to avoid any extensive open public meetings with Mainers, which suggests to me that she feels unsure about her service to Maine as our senator.

Our U.S. senators and representatives must serve all of Maine, not for self-interest or to do others’ bidding. To me, Collins’ recent voting record suggests the latter. Her symbolic and strategic votes that allowed Medicaid cuts, votes for judicial confirmations, and her being what I consider insufficiently critical of immigration actions have, I believe, purposely and materially harmed Maine people.

I think Collins is weak and requires dark money to continue doing the bidding for political operatives like Stronger America and Pine Tree Results. These 501(c)(4) groups and political action committees received millions of undisclosed investor money for her campaign.

I think the Republican leadership clearly fears she can’t win on her own merit. I urge my fellow Mainers to choose power for Maine citizens. Don’t be fooled by the Republican operatives financing the Collins campaign to serve the interests of big-money donors.

Libbey Gulliver
Blue Hill

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