{"id":1492,"date":"2026-05-18T10:39:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1492"},"modified":"2026-05-18T10:39:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:39:42","slug":"democrats-are-aiming-at-maine-for-a-senate-seat-but-will-the-state-give-up-susan-collins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1492","title":{"rendered":"Democrats are aiming at Maine for a Senate seat. But will the state give up Susan Collins?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"content--interactive\">\n<div class=\"content--interactive-grid dcr-1uwz768\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-i2svn5\">\n<h1 class=\"content__headline dcr-1k1a1x\">Democrats are aiming at Maine for a Senate seat. But will the state give up Susan Collins?<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"content__standfirst dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Challenger Graham Platner may have amassed a rare kinetic energy, but the moderate conservative has served the state for almost 30 years<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:lines\" data-gu-name=\"lines\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-ich95x\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<article style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-k758is\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-17fracs\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector content__main-column--interactive dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<figure id=\"ff3c97f2-f7be-4ba3-ba02-c4a2accbd76e\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.InteractiveAtomBlockElement\" class=\"element element-atom dcr-173mewl\">\n<div class=\"interactive interactive-atom dcr-e6xisx\" data-atom-id=\"interactives\/2023\/01\/interactive-article-structure\/portrait-image-mainmedia-feature\" data-atom-type=\"interactive-layout\">\n<div class=\"interactive-wrapper\">\n<div id=\"article-layout\" data-did-prerender=\"true\"> <button id=\"caption-button\" style=\"opacity: 0\"><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<figure id=\"9eefa16c-c4a1-4f7b-8905-736076560c60\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"element element--inline element-inline dcr-173mewl\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A woman in a formal top looking to the side, against a blue background,with the colors saturated.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/41f3e3cea802aa6a21aed9b28339d69cc425cd5d\/974_50_2356_2944\/master\/2356.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"445\" height=\"556.0611205432938\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"9eefa16c-c4a1-4f7b-8905-736076560c60\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Collins has been unafraid to defy Trump directly.<\/span> Composite: Rita Liu\/The Guardian\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">For three decades, Susan Collins has styled herself as a moderate conservative who delivers for Maine, even when it means defying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump<\/a>. But as the incumbent Republican seeks a sixth term, national Democrats see her as newly vulnerable \u2013 zoning in on the state as a clear path to reclaiming the Senate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Collins, 73, will now face off against the presumptive Democratic nominee, Graham Platner, a 41-year-old marine veteran and oysterman with no national political experience and a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/nov\/03\/graham-platner-democrat-senate-maine\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">controversial past<\/a>. Despite dredged-up racist, sexist and homophobic online posts \u2013 and a now-covered-up tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol \u2013 Platner continues to amass a rare kinetic energy that has seen hundreds of Mainers flock to town halls across the state to hear his gravelly voiced excoriation of Washington. His rise ultimately forced the state\u2019s two-term governor Janet Mills to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/30\/maine-governor-janet-mills-drops-senate-race\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">suspend her primary bid<\/a>, citing dwindling financial resources.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Platner\u2019s youth and outsider profile have created a sense that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/maine\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Maine<\/a> \u2013 a state with the oldest and whitest population in the country \u2013 may be ready for a change in political leadership. There\u2019s a prevailing sense of \u201cwe like her, and she\u2019s been good for Maine, but she\u2019s had her time for somebody new or younger\u201d, one former state Republican official, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the race, said of Collins. The senator\u2019s campaign spokesperson did not respond to the Guardian\u2019s request for comment about her performance to date.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The other man causing problems for Collins this midterm election is the president himself. The Pine Tree state is one of four seats that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/democrats\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Democrats<\/a> see as a viable pick-up to regain control of the upper chamber come November. Collins is the only Senate Republican running for re-election in a state that Kamala Harris won in 2024, and this will be the first time she is back on the ballot since Trump\u2019s return to the White House last year \u2013 ensuring a nationalized contest shaped by foreign\u2011policy crises, high gas prices, persistent inflation and a domestic agenda defined by a sweeping immigration crackdown, deep Medicaid cuts and weakened federal agencies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In the past, Collins has been unafraid to defy Trump directly. She <a href=\"https:\/\/www.collins.senate.gov\/newsroom\/senator-collins-delivers-remarks-impeachment-article\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">voted to convict the president<\/a> during his second impeachment trial after the January 6 insurrection, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/jan\/23\/lisa-murkowski-pete-hegseth-nomination\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">opposed<\/a> Pete Hegseth\u2019s nomination for defense secretary, and voted to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2022\/mar\/30\/ketanji-brown-jackson-susan-collins-supreme-court\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">confirm <\/a>liberal supreme court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. But she has also backed many of the president\u2019s priorities. Her vote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2019\/sep\/23\/susan-collins-maine-democrats-kavanaugh-controversy\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">to confirm<\/a> Brett Kavanaugh, and the Dobbs decision that followed, still looms large. So does her support for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/mar\/13\/explainer-save-america-act\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">a national voter\u2011ID bill<\/a> and her delayed backing of a war\u2011powers resolution on Iran. It didn\u2019t help when Democrats seized on an image of Collins holding a Maga cap in the Oval Office earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Her maneuvering on Capitol Hill has the potential to cast her as more of a background actor, as opposed to a key player this cycle. \u201cShe is the most talented Senate staffer to have a seat in the Senate,\u201d said Tony Payne, a former executive director of the Maine Republican party. \u201cThe feeling is widespread that she will show her independence only when her vote is not required.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Platner has leaned hard into that critique, branding Collins\u2019s moderation as complicity. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Yus9UBZC7w4&amp;t=22s\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">In a recent ad<\/a>, he called her breaks with Trump \u201csymbolic opposition\u201d that don\u2019t \u201creopen hospitals\u201d or \u201cbring back Roe v Wade\u201d, and accused her of selling out working\u2011class Mainers to the president and the \u201cEpstein class\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Trump, meanwhile, has no viable Republican alternative to Collins. Unlike in Louisiana or Kentucky, there is no hardliner he can throw his weight behind with a retributive, all-caps endorsement on Truth Social. After years attacking Collins \u2013 as recently as January <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/115860738010214901\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">he said<\/a> she \u201cshould never be elected to office again\u201d \u2013 the president has shifted to faint praise, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bulwarkonline\/status\/2037284965134516697?s=46&amp;t=SaaJmckAjkUaWRXBaHHvfA\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">calling her a \u201cgood person\u201d<\/a> and hoping she wins. While his blessing is a vital currency in deep-red pockets of the country, in Maine it could be a liability, particularly among libertarian\u2011leaning voters wary of the Republican party\u2019s Maga wing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cShe really needs silence from [Trump], and he\u2019s not good at that,\u201d said Jeffrey Selinger, professor of government at Bowdoin College. \u201cShe has to not poke the bear, but then still claim credit for things that she thinks she did well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">While speaking in Bangor last week, JD Vance even offered a veiled acknowledgement of Collins\u2019s predicament. \u201cThe thing I love about Susan is she is independent because Maine is an independent state,\u201d the vice-president said. \u201cAnd frankly, if she was as partisan as I sometimes wish that she was, she would not be a good fit for the people of Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In early matchups, Collins trails Platnerby single digits, but she has survived poor polling before. Collins also has money on her side: the top Senate GOP Super Pac has invested <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bangordailynews.com\/2026\/01\/20\/politics\/elections\/maine-susan-collins-election-2026-senate-leadership-fund\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">$42m in the race<\/a>, with more outside spending pouring in. Republicans will now have ample runway and the deep pockets to discredit Platner, especially by resurfacing the controversies that beleaguered the early months of his campaign. Political operatives in the state also said that more opposition research will likely flood the race in the lead-up to the election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">While Platner is running a \u201ctop shelf\u201d campaign, with impressive media, Maine rewards old\u2011style politics, according to Lance Dutson, a GOP strategist who has worked on Collins\u2019s previous campaigns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">And at the Maine Republican convention last month, Collins made her case clear to members of her party gathered in Augusta. \u201cI\u2019m going to be talking about my record of delivering for my beloved state,\u201d she said, vowing to highlight her seniority as chair of the powerful Senate appropriations committee, and the influence she\u2019s built over nearly 30 years in the Senate. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FH4z6Sv5n0c\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">her first general election spot<\/a>, Collins followed through, focusing on the federal funding she secured to repair a collapsed pier in Eastport, instead of slamming her opponent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Her tenure as a camera-shy workhorse could also outweigh any \u201cabstractions around her character\u201d, Dutson added. \u201cIf I\u2019m in a town of 1,500 people and Susan Collins got us the new fire truck, that\u2019s more impactful than her opinion of Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats are aiming at Maine for a Senate seat. But will the state give up Susan Collins? Challenger<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1495,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492\/revisions\/1495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}