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SCOTUS Vote Shadows Collins in Midterms09/28 06:38
GORHAM, Maine (AP) -- For years, Planned Parenthood's endorsement of
https://apnews.com/article/maine-senate-platner-collins-0abe847799b9779d604425de
03a914de was enough to persuade Erin Evans to vote for Maine's longtime U.S.
senator, believing that the moderate Republican would protect abortion access.
Evans is now "just furious with myself" for those votes. The 56-year-old
from Portland described Collins' critical vote
https://apnews.com/article/north-america-ap-top-news-sexual-misconduct-supreme-c
ourts-courts-8234f0b8a6194d8b89ff79f9b0c94f35 to the U.S. Supreme Court, where
President Donald Trump's nominee eventually helped
https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e
58cf8d8a7b0, as a betrayal.
"I was a really uninformed voter," Evans said. "I thought any woman from
Maine was probably in line with me."
The Nov. 3 election will be the first time Collins is on the ballot since
the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, resulting in
abortion being banned in much of the United States. This time, Evans says she
is backing Democrat
https://apnews.com/article/maine-senate-susan-collins-platner-troy-jackson-a5f89
f03b6a9aace01f4e829befb7809, a
https://apnews.com/article/maine-troy-jackson-susan-collins-senate-election-079c
2d5ba0a2b572d2c79a6c6a9138e8 trying to deny Collins a sixth term.
Jackson and Democrats are hoping that voters like Evans will help flip a
seat in a state the party has made a priority in the quest to retake the Senate.
Both Collins and Jackson have made an effort to appeal to women, who make up
the majority of Maine's population and have had a slightly higher rate of
voting than men, according to a
https://www.democracymaine.org/sites/default/files/2025-07/2025_State%20of%20Dem
ocracy%20in%20Maine_FINAL.pdf by democracy advocacy groups. In campaign ads
from both candidates, women are featured prominently.
Democrats' ads have focused heavily on Collins' vote in support of Kavanaugh
and describe her as caving to Trump. The Democratic-aligned advocacy group
Affordable Maine has spent nearly $10 million on ads stressing the senator's
backing of other Trump-appointed judges who oppose abortion. An additional $32
million has been spent by Win Senate, a political action committee focused on
Collins. Planned Parenthood Votes has so far spent at least $500,000 to run ads
that include a female voter who regrets voting for Collins because of her
Kavanaugh vote.
Yet Jackson is facing a steep challenge.
Collins has a 30-year record of winning elections even as Maine voters have
spurned Republican presidential nominees, including Trump, since 1988.
And the issue trails others in terms of importance to voters. A New York
Times/Siena poll conducted in September found that when asked in their own
words what one issue will be most important in deciding their vote for Congress
in November, almost no likely Maine voters mentioned abortion.
'I do not regret' voting to confirm Kavanaugh, Collins says
Collins has long called herself a "pro-choice" Republican and a supporter of
a woman's right to an abortion. She was one of the few Republicans endorsed by
Planned Parenthood earlier in her political career. In 2022, she co-sponsored
legislation to put federal protections for abortion into law.
The position has put her at odds with her party but was in line with Maine
voters.
In 2020, the last time Collins sought reelection, the vast majority of Maine
voters in the Senate race, 76%, said the Supreme Court should not overturn Roe
v. Wade, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. That
included most Collins voters. Some 35% of voters who supported Collins in her
successful reelection bid said they wanted Roe to be overturned.
Collins' https://apnews.com/article/1a911d6e59db4d89ada69a6f090d76bb was
crucial to his confirmation. At the time, Collins waited months before
announcing her decision in a 45-minute floor speech. The final vote was 50-48.
Kavanaugh later joined the 6-3 conservative majority in stripping away
constitutional rights to abortion.
Collins criticized the high court's decision in 2022, but she has never
publicly wavered in her decision to confirm Kavanaugh. She told
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g_GCsZU5jM that "I do not regret that vote."
Collins had said before the 2018 vote that Kavanaugh, in a two-hour meeting
with her, said
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-confirmation-hearings-ap-top-news-brett-
kavanaugh-north-america-d843c7076e2b44fbbec1a4d26ef9d830.
But her confirmation vote is what stands out in the minds of voters like
Bente Lundh, 67, of Falmouth.
"She's positioned herself as this moderate voter, but she's really chopped
that down with her vote for Kavanaugh," Lundh said.
For others, Collins'
https://apnews.com/united-states-congress-1092f2eb241e46859913d7a2261ff119
continues to draw their support even if they are disappointed with the eventual
overturning of Roe.
"I think I've tried to not have my allegiance to party make me blind to what
may be a better path from time to time," said Mary Ann Lynch, a Democrat
supporting Collins. "Neither party, in my view, has a monopoly on the truth and
how best to do things. So I think it's really important to have people who will
reach across the aisle."
Lynch added that Collins may have voted to confirm Kavanaugh, but she also
voted to confirm Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, who
dissented in the abortion ruling. They were nominated by Democratic President
Barack Obama.
Jackson makes his case to women, abortion rights supporters
Since launching his campaign in July, Jackson has announced a "Women for
Troy" coalition made up of women from all 16 Maine counties and he has secured
endorsements from abortion rights groups Planned Parenthood and Reproductive
Freedom for All.
Jackson was serving as a top state senator when the landmark 1973 decision
was upended in 2022. He says he worked to pass "some of the strongest
protections for abortion access in the country."
Yet Jackson has had his own hurdles.
The Democrat became a last-minute Senate nominee after
https://apnews.com/article/graham-platner-maine-senate-53839ed2762e9f84557a299ae
922f2dd dropped out this summer following criticism of his past relationships
with women and a sexual assault allegation, which Platner denies. Jackson is
now scrambling to win over voters who may be wary of his connection to Platner.
The two campaigned together as Jackson initially sought the Democratic
gubernatorial nomination but lost.
Jackson also has had to explain the evolution of his support on abortion
rights and same-sex marriage, both of which he opposed years ago. Jackson now
says he was wrong about his past beliefs and changed his mind after talking to
women. Jackson's campaign spokesperson Maggie Amjad said Jackson now holds a
"100% rating from Maine's Planned Parenthood."
Blake Kernen, a spokesperson for Collins, described the senator as the only
"reliably pro-choice" candidate in the race.
Abortion is not top of mind for Maine voters
While Jackson is reminding voters of Collins' role in the abortion rights
fight, he is doing so in a state that was not highly affected by the decision
compared with Republican-controlled regions where many abortion clinics have
shuttered, said Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of
Maine.
"If you were in a state where all of the abortion clinics had closed, then
that might be a bigger issue," Brewer said. "That has not been the case here."
The state's Democratic-controlled Legislature in 2023
https://apnews.com/article/maine-legislature-abortion-access-8e307526d1c0101d820
841f4d42a94c4 that allows abortions at any time if deemed medically necessary
by a doctor, and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has enacted legislation protecting
providers of
https://apnews.com/article/maine-abortion-transgender-shield-law-9e1d7ca3d80089f
f200ada9304813598 from legal action brought by other states.
A CNN/SSRS survey of likely Maine voters conducted in late August and early
September found that most voters are still unhappy about the decision to
overturn Roe, but that anger over the loss of abortion rights could be
overshadowed by broader concerns about the economy.
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