U.S. Sen. Susan Collins may make her next term her last if reelected this November.
The Maine Republican, who is up for a historic sixth term, made that comment to a News Center Maine reporter Tuesday during an event in Sanford.
She would be 80 at the end of that term.
Collins — who has been ranked as the most bipartisan senator by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy — maintained her health is good and that she has the energy for another term in the U.S. Senate.
“Anyone who follows me around the state would also not have any questions about that. So, I’ve been blessed with good health, a lot of energy, and I think my voting record shows that. I can’t speak for my opponents,” she told News Center Maine.
A spokesperson for Collins’ campaign downplayed the remark about the senator’s potential final term, calling it an “offhand comment to a reporter, not a formal declaration.”
“Maine has a once in a century opportunity to reelect the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Senator Collins is focused on the work that she does for Maine, not the 2032 election,” the spokesperson said.
Democrats face an uphill battle to unseat Collins, who officially announced her historic bid for a sixth term in February. She has handily beaten back challengers, including in 2020 when she defied polls and expectations to secure a fifth term in the Senate. But Collins has seen her popularity slump since Republican President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.
Republicans are largely aligned with Collins, who commands 67% support among likely voters in the Republican primary, according to the University of New Hampshire’s February Pine Tree State Poll.
The Senate race is shaping up to be an expensive one, with the Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, pledging last month to spend at least $42 million to help Collins defend her seat. If Collins is successful in winning a sixth term, she would be Maine’s longest-serving U.S. senator.
Term-limited Gov. Janet Mills, Sullivan oyster farmer Graham Platner and Old Town native David Costello are vying for the Democratic Party’s nomination. Platner currently holds a commanding lead among likely Democratic primary voters, based on recent polls.
Correction: An earlier version of this report misstated when Collins last was ranked the most bipartisan senator.