Donald Trump and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) do not get along, to say the least.
I don’t really agree with Collins on many issues, but the reality is that if we want to keep that seat, we have to keep her there or find a new face who emulates her politics, even if it goes against Trump from time to time.
Well, she just announced she is running again, and that will surely not sit well with the president.
This is one area where many conservatives and I differ. As long as the elected official is truly representing their constituents, even if I don’t like their stance, I will support them.
Trump wants blanket support on all policies, and it just doesn’t work that way in moderate states if you want to keep that seat.
To that point, Trump has repeatedly suggested primarying Collins to remove her, and he did it again in January.
Trump had called for Collins to be replaced, but leadership, as well as her fellow senators, pushed back. For instance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) responded, “For us at least, we’ve got to play the long game. There is one way to elect a Republican in the state of Maine, and that’s for Susan Collins to be the nominee.”
Trump is not going to like it, but Collins answered the bell, and she will run again.
Collins posted a video of herself unboxing new running shoes, stating, “This is perfect for 2026, because I’m running.”
Democrats immediately went to work to discredit her, responding, “Susan Collins has lost the trust of Maine voters and this November they’ll hold her accountable at the ballot box.”
I don’t think she has lost the trust of voters in Maine by any means, as she has repeatedly stood her ground against Trump, even when she knew she would be attacked. But again, it is a moderate state, so I really don’t have a problem with what she does.
This is not going to be an easy election, as Democrats have two strong candidates in the primary, and both of them are polling well against Collins.
There isn’t anybody in Maine who will beat Collins in a primary race, as she has had that seat for nearly four decades, but the general election will be a challenge, as it always is.
Collins first won her seat in the 1996 election, but it was only by about 5%. She convincingly won her next few elections, but it really started to tighten up with Trump, as she won the 2020 election by less than 8% after crushing wins in the previous elections.
With Trump declaring war on her, Collins is winning in recent polling, but she is only up by about 1% on the Democrat frontrunners. I know Trump does not like her, but someone has to get in his ear and tell him to lay off from this point forward, or he could wind up gift-wrapping a Senate seat for Democrats.
