Politics
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U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has long admired Maine political icon Margaret Chase Smith, who famously broke with her Republican Party to denounce the red-baiting of Joseph McCarthy.
During Donald Trump’s two terms in the White House, Collins often was confronted with calls to have her own “Margaret Chase Smith moment.”
In an interview with The New York Times after her bruising loss to Democrat Troy Jackson, the Maine Republican argued she rose to that occasion many times.
Indeed, she broke with Trump, for example, on repealing the Affordable Care Act in 2017 and voted to convict him during his second impeachment after the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot.
When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement surged here in January, Collins touted her influence in getting the agency to scale down its operations after just a few days. Then when an ICE agent shot and killed a 25-year-old Colombian immigrant in Biddeford in July, Collins took credit for pressuring the agency to pause “non-urgent” vehicle stops.
But it wasn’t enough to convince voters that Collins was willing to stand up to Trump, whose tariffs and Iran war are making everyday life more expensive.
“What bigger break could there be? It is never enough. I want results and they want angry rhetoric,” she told the paper of record.
So Collins got her “Margaret Chase Smith moment,” just not the one she envisioned.
“I would argue that I have, like Margaret Chase Smith, taken a lot of tough votes and stood up for what I believe in. But I think the best comparison is we each lost our last race for the Senate,” Collins told The Times, alluding to Smith’s failed 1972 reelection bid against Democrat Bill Hathaway.
On Tuesday, voters delivered a strong rebuke to Trump, handing control of the U.S. House and Senate to Democrats, including formerly safe Republican seats in deep red Texas and Kansas. Democrats reversed gains Republicans made with Hispanic, Black and young voters just two years ago.
It was seemingly Collins’ race to lose. Although she trailed in poll after poll after poll, Collins defied polls and expectations back in 2020 to secure a fifth term in the Senate. Those 2020 echoes drowned out the growing murmur of discontent as Trump governed with little regard to Republicans who, unlike the president, had to stand before voters.
“I was caught up in the Trump tsunami that swept away many incumbent Republican senators who have served their states well for many years and really care about our country,” Collins told The Times.
Then there was her 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. At the time, Collins said that Kavanaugh assured her that he viewed Roe v. Wade as settled law. But Kavanaugh joined the Supreme Court majority in overturning that landmark abortion rights decision in 2022. That vote came back to haunt her on the campaign trail.
Her campaign, however, leaned heavily on the senator’s seniority and leadership on the powerful Appropriations Committee. That has allowed Collins to direct millions back home to Maine. Touring the state, Collins touted projects funded by those federal dollars, including $1 million for a new library in Kenduskeag and another $3.5 million for a future fire station in the small town just outside Bangor.
Collins told The Times she wanted voters to know what the choice was. Jackson, as a junior senator, won’t carry anywhere near the influence that Collins wields for now.
“Every town you go to, you see a project that was funded and work that needed to be done. That’s an opportunity that the state has walked away from,” Steve Abbott, Collins’ campaign manager, told The Times.