1 week Ago
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Capitol Hill in Washington in May. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File Maine’s senior U.
S. senator says she’s planning to run for reelection in two years. Sen.
Susan Collins reportedly told the Washington Examiner , a conservative news site based out of Washington, D.C., that she intends to seek a sixth term.
“It’s my plan,” Collins told reporters, the Examiner said. “I’m focused on the appropriations process, not elections right now, but my intention is to run.” Collins has refused interview requests with the Press Herald since the election.
With the Republican takeover of the Senate, Collins is in line to lead the Senate Appropriations Committee in the next Congress, but she could be bumped by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is stepping down from leadership and plans to focus on foreign policy and increasing defense spending. The next two years could be tumultuous for the 71-year-old Collins now that Donald Trump was elected to a second, non-consecutive term as president. Collins has not supported any of Trump’s three presidential campaigns and was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict him during his second impeachment trial over his role in the Jan.
6, 2021, riots at the Capitol. Prior to the November elections, Collins said she planned to write-in former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who lost the Republican primary to Trump.
Democrats have already taken aim at Collins, as she has reacted to some of Trump’s early nominations for cabinet positions and other roles in his administration. On Wednesday, Collins said she was “shocked” at Trump’s plan to nominate Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general.
Gaetz was been investigated by the Department of Justice and the House ethics commission over alleged misconduct and illegal drug use, which he has denied. The Maine Democratic Party said that “for nearly 10 years Susan Collins has been ‘shocked’, ‘appalled’, and ‘disappointed’ by the leader of her own party, and for the same amount of time she has failed to hold him accountable for his actions.” “Now that he has been safely reelected, Susan is again free to express her tepid disappointment, but Mainers will not forget how she utterly failed to stand up or speak out against him before the election,” Democrats said.
“It’s time to hold Susan accountable for her lack of leadership and unwillingness to stand up for what is right.” Collins defied the odds to win reelection in 2020, when she was the only Republican U.S.
senator to be reelected in a state that was won by President Biden, a Democrat. That year, Collins trailed in the polls leading up to Election Day against a well-funded opponent, former Maine Speaker of the House Sara Gideon, a Freeport Democrat. That race drew more than $200 million in spending, making it the second most expensive Senate race that year.
Collins and Gideon spent a combined $100 million, while outside groups spent $111 million, according to the U.S. Federal Election Commission.
Even though Gideon spent more than $64 million – more than twice as much as Collins – she ended the campaign with more than $11 million cash on hand. Collins won that race by 9 percentage points, outperforming Trump, who lost to Biden by 7 percentage points statewide. Susan Collins in line for powerful new role in Republican-controlled Senate Susan Collins ‘shocked’ at Trump’s nomination of Matt Gaetz as attorney general We invite you to add your comments.
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