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Mainers are watching the Susan Collins/Troy Jackson debates, with hope and trepidation. An informal gathering of questions from neighbors over the weekend turned up these priorities we hope moderators will put to our senior senator:
You opposed final passage of last year’s budget reconciliation law but voted to let it advance. Why move forward a bill you said would hurt Maine’s Medicaid recipients and rural hospitals?
As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, what have you done to stop the administration from withholding money Congress approved?
Tariffs on Canada hit Maine’s loggers, lobstermen and border towns. Will you vote to return tariff authority to Congress?
What are you doing to help Mainers whose access to healthcare has been lost or imperiled thanks to your vote to advance the One Big Beautiful Bill?
You voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary. Do you stand by that vote?
Will you rule out raising the Social Security retirement age?
Name one instance since January 2025 where your objections changed an outcome, not just the record.
You tout your 10,000 consecutive votes as a positive attribute of your service in the Senate. Why should Mainers thank you for the votes for Brett Kavanaugh, RFK Jr., expanded funding for ICE, and the One Big Beautiful Bill?
You voted to confirm Justice Kavanaugh, saying you believed Roe was settled law. Knowing what followed, would you cast that vote again?
To justify returning you to the Senate we want direct answers, not just “concern.”
Joline Godfrey
Saint George