Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the last New England Republican in Congress, announced Wednesday morning that she is running for a fifth six-year term.
Collins did not mention in her announcement that the House will impeach President Trump later Wednesday, though however she votes when Trump goes on trial in the Senate is sure to alienate some large chunk of her constituents. Collins instead pitched her re-election as a bid to keep her "bipartisan commonsense approach" in a bitterly divided Washington.
"The fundamental question I had to ask myself in making my decision was this: In today's polarized political environment, is there still a role for a centrist who believes in getting things done through compromise, collegiality, and bipartisanship?" Collins said. "I have concluded that the answer to this question is 'yes.'" Voters will get to either ratify or reject that choice next November, in what's expected to be the most expensive race in Maine history.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Collins has $8.6 million in the bank, but her top Democratic challenger, Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, raised $1 million more than Collins in the most recent cycle. The winner of the Democratic primary — activist Betsy Sweet, lawyer Bre Kidman and former Google executive Ross LaJeunesse are also running to challenge Collins — will also get a pot of more million $4 million crowdsourced from donors in reaction to Collins' vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanauagh and pass Trump's tax law.
-
Embrace the Boricua spirit on a foodie tour of Puerto RicoThe Week Recommends From cultural food tours to organic farms, there is plenty to discover around the island
-
The longest US government shutdown in historyThe Explainer Federal employees and low-income households have been particularly affected by ‘partisan standoffs’ in Washington
-
Jeremy Hunt picks his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The former chancellor shares works by Mishal Husain, Keach Hagey, and Johan Norberg
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
