Mainers’ grand bargain

yahoo.com · September 9, 2026

# Mainers’ grand bargain

Published: 2026-09-09T16:14:14+00:00 Source: yahoo.com (yahoo.com) Language: en

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Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine tours the Maine Energy Marketers Association Technical Education Center in Brunswick on Sept. 3, 2026. (Photo by Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)

Key takeaways

- U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine leverages her seniority and influence to secure significant federal funding for the state, including earmarks totaling over $1 billion since 2022. - Collins positions herself as a moderate Republican, frequently breaking from her party but often voting in favor of Republican priorities, such as supporting Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. - Collins faces a tough re-election battle against Democratic nominee Troy Jackson, who emphasizes solidarity and mutual support as a contrast to Collins' focus on protecting Maine's interests through her connections in Washington.

As the only Senate Republican representing a state that has voted three times against President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is once again amplifying her power as a chief appropriator who delivers outsized earmarks for the state.

She has also positioned herself as a bulwark, protecting Mainers from Trump's dramatic cuts to government programs as well as his fierce cruelty towards political opponents and vulnerable populations.

As she seeks re-election, Collins is arguing that her presence in the U.S. Senate protects her constituents from a regime that she supports 95% of the time and when Mainers head to the polls in November, they are largely voting on whether her seniority and the privileges and protections it affords the state is worth the cost to the rest of the nation.

## Collins as protector

"I focus on results, not rhetoric," Collins told Maine Morning Star in an interview last year when asked about calls for her to more publicly challenge some of the actions of the White House, touting the success she's had behind the scenes.

"Because I have these relationships with the president's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and with Cabinet members, I have been able to restore funding that was in jeopardy," Collins said.

Collins used that influence as Maine became a frequent target of Trump's second administration after Gov. Janet Mills' heated exchange with the president over the state's transgender protections.

For example, Collins said she consulted with the Trump administration to restore the U.S. Department of Agriculture grants to the University of Maine, renegotiate the Maine Sea Grant, and reverse the cancellation of a decades-old program that allows parents to register their newborns for a Social Security number while at hospitals.

She also took credit for the end of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge in January.

"I have been urging Secretary Noem and others in the Administration to get ICE to reconsider its approach to immigration enforcement in the state," she wrote on X on Jan. 29. "I appreciate the Secretary's willingness to listen to and consider my recommendations and her personal attention to the situation in Maine."

The Press Herald later reported that beginning on Jan. 22 federal authorities were planning to leave the state because of a pending snowstorm. And in the months that followed, federal agents continued to arrest and deport Maine residents, the vast majority of whom had no criminal record, though in a less confrontational manner.

## Collins as appropriator

Collins' influence as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee is cited by many of her supporters as the main reason for their vote, particularly when it comes to securing funding for the state.

As the Morning Star previously reported, Collins has secured more than $1 billion for Maine since 2022, when Congress reinstated earmarks. During the most recent cycle, Maine received the second highest allocation of federal funding per capita in the country, securing $460 million for roughly 200 projects across the state.

Though Collins' congressional colleagues, including U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, who is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, also secured millions in funding, many projects are attached to Collins and publicized by her office.

During the latest congressional recess, Collins visited a childcare center in Bangor, a defense manufacturer in Biddeford, a bridge dedication in Millinocket, a lobster pound in St. George, as well as a crisis care center and affordable housing development in Calais. She christened the launch of a 3D-printed boat at the University of Maine and signed a truss for the new Kenduskeag Public Library — all to tout investments that she requested or secured in recent years.

The senator works hard for the people of Maine and her team makes sure we know it.

And that pork does come at a cost. Under Republican rule, Congress and the White House have taken an ax to spending on healthcare and social programs that predominantly support vulnerable populations, which is already having a ripple effect on state budgets, including Maine's.

## Collins as moderate

Collins has frequently brandished her reputation as the most bipartisan senator to distance herself from the more disgraceful actions of her party.

Supporters like to characterize the senator as a "thorn in the president's side," with one letter to the editor using the example of her opposition to Todd Blanche, Trump's former criminal defense lawyer. But like many of Collins' opposing votes, it did not stop him from being confirmed as attorney general.

The Bangor Daily News' recent analysis of times Collins cast the deciding vote found that, even though she does break from her party more than any other senator, it very rarely results in an outcome that's in the Democrats' favor, and among the 56 times she did, roughly half were before the first Trump administration. The analysis also weighs each vote equally, and so fails to account for the significance or impact of the legislation passed or blocked by Collins.

Which leads me to her very high profile 2018 vote in support of Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, which she has said she does not regret, despite it ultimately leading to the repeal of the federal right to an abortion. That act had a devastating impact on women's health, rights, access to reproductive care, and economic opportunities across the country. Democrats won't stop talking about that vote in relation to Collins because it was a time she could have wielded her power in defense of issues she purports to care about, but chose not to.

Perhaps if the impact was closer to home, if Maine residents weren't protected by the state's strong abortion protections, Collins would feel differently.

## The solidarity vote

Troy Jackson, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, joins protesters at a July 14 demonstration outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Scarborough, days after federal agents killed a man in Biddeford, Maine. (Photo by Jackson for Senate campaign)

Ultimately, Collins is banking on Maine's swing voters opting for what they see as local interest — money for firetrucks, a direct line to Cabinet members when the state is under threat — over Democrats winning control of the Senate, which would significantly curtail Trump's agenda.

And while it is an understandable impulse in t

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Maine News

September 2026