Maine's 2020 Senate race is uncharted territory for Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Colby College released the first poll of this year's Maine Senate race, and it shows the four-term incumbent statistically tied with her Democratic challenger, Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon. While 42 percent of respondents said they'd vote for Collins in the fall, 43 percent said they'd opt for Gideon, marking an unusually tough road ahead for Collins.
"This could be the kind of race Sen. Collins has not had to deal with before," said Dan Shea, Colby College's lead researcher on the poll. Collins secured her first Senate election in 1996 by about six points and won far more easily in her three re-elections since. Yet with Maine's second congressional district flipping to Democrat Jared Golden in 2018, it looks like the rest of the state could follow suit.
Collins infuriated many Democratic voters when she voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. The tight margin could also stem partly from Collins' vote to acquit President Trump during his impeachment trial. A total of 37 percent of poll respondents said they were disappointed with her role in the impeachment process, while 30 percent said they were proud and 31 percent said they had mixed feelings. When asked if the Senate's acquittal was the right decision, 48 percent said yes and 49 percent said no.
Colby College surveyed 1,008 registered voters from Feb. 10–13 with a margin of error of 3 percent. About 30 percent of surveys were conducted via cell phone and landline, while 70 percent were conducted online. Kathryn Krawczyk
There are members of the Republican Party who are worried that Ronna McDaniel's desire to remain as the chair of the Republican National Committee could mean President Trump will retain control of the group and, therefore, the GOP even after he's out of the White House, The New York Times reports. McDaniel is a close ally of Trump, and wary Republicans suspect she could allow for Trump to mobilize the party against incumbents he doesn't consider loyal enough.
But McDaniel has reportedly attempted to assure the doubters that she'll remain independent of Trump and his family, four Republicans told the Times on condition of anonymity. Besides, if it's not her, the risk of an ever more pro-Trump chair could emerge, she reportedly told one party leader, warning her successor could be someone like Donald Trump, Jr. or his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Aides to Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle have said neither is interested in the job, but the possibility could be enough for McDaniel to reel in the support she needs, given the party's concern of continuing to lose its grip on suburban voters. Read more at The New York Times. Tim O'Donnell
Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, which was submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorization this week and could be rolled out by mid-December, must be kept in ultra-cold conditions and will initially be shipped in boxes that hold a minimum of 975 doses. Once a vial is thawed and diluted to make five shots, people receiving the vaccine (early on that is expected to be health care workers), will then have just six hours to get inoculated, Politico reports. Whatever is left over will then spoil.
While there's great excitement about the vaccine's pending authorization, the concern about wasted shots is very real, "especially early on when it will be practically liquid gold," Douglas Hoey, CEO of the National Pharmacists Association told Politico.
States are trying to come up with ways to mitigate the risk, but spoiled doses are inevitable. Maryland health officials told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that as much as 5 percent of the vaccine the state is allocated could go unused in the initial rollout, especially because rural counties may not be able to use up all 975 doses on their own. To counter, Maryland is considering creating regional clinics where people in high priority groups from different rural communities could come to get vaccinated.
Oregon is considering contracting emergency medical providers to drive around and divy up the vaccine among remote areas, Politico reports. And North Dakota wants to repackage the vaccine into smaller boxes — Pfizer says it's working on a smaller pack size that won't be ready until next year — while also identifying people in the next priority group to get a shot if there are any doses left over.
Regardless, the situation will be tricky, but Moderna's vaccine, which will also soon be up for FDA authorization, is expected to be a bit easier to distribute than Pfizer's. Read more at Politico. Tim O'Donnell
The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday issued an emergency use authorization for Regeneron's antibody cocktail, a treatment that was given to President Trump in October after he tested positive for COVID-19. Trump credited the cocktail for aiding his recovery.
For now, the authorization applies only to high-risk patients — people over the age of 65 or those who have underlying conditions — and the treatment is meant to be administered in the early stages of an infection; it has not been authorized for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or those who require oxygen therapy.
Demand is likely to outpace supply with infections rising rapidly across the U.S., but Regeneron said it hopes to have enough doses for 80,000 patients by the end of November, 200,000 by the first week in January, and 300,000 by the end of January.
The cocktail consists of two monoclonal antibodies that target the spike protein the coronavirus uses to enter cells. A similar therapy developed by Eli Lilly was granted an emergency use by the FDA earlier this month. Read more at Bloomberg and CNN. Tim O'Donnell