Susan Collins campaigns with Joe Manchin to press independence case in Maine
Susan Collins enlisted former Sen. Joe Manchin as she argues her record sets her apart from Trump in Maine’s Senate race.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Sen. Susan Collins campaigned with former Sen. Joe Manchin in Lewiston and Norway, Maine, on Oct. 21, using the cross-party endorsement to reinforce her claim of independence from President Donald Trump. The Susan Collins Joe Manchin campaign appearance came as the Republican seeks a sixth term against Democrat Troy Jackson in the Nov. 3 election, according to The Associated Press.
Manchin, who represented West Virginia and left the Democratic Party late in his Senate career, joined Collins for breakfast at Simones’ Hot Dog Stand in Lewiston and a visit to a New Balance shoe factory in Norway. He said losing Collins would mean losing “the soul of the Senate,” praising her willingness to break with Trump and calling her a “true blue-blooded Maine person,” AP reported.
Why did Joe Manchin campaign with Susan Collins?
Manchin’s appearance supplied Collins with a former Democratic colleague to support her case that she works across party lines. Collins said she and Manchin had been involved in every bipartisan measure that became law while they served together in the Senate, according to AP.
Manchin also said Collins was “not a Trump senator,” Fox News reported. That is an endorsement message rather than an independent assessment of her voting record, and Collins’ ties to Trump have remained a central dispute in the race.
What does Collins cite as evidence of independence?
Collins voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, AP reported. At the candidates’ final debate, she also pointed to her work rallying opposition to Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, though Hegseth was confirmed.
Democrats have highlighted a different set of votes. A Democratic ad cited Collins’ vote to advance Trump-backed legislation that included Medicaid cuts; AP reported that she later voted against the bill. The distinction means her procedural vote did not amount to a final vote for passage.
Jackson has described Collins as a Trump “rubber stamp” and criticized her votes to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary. Collins has said she does not regret either vote, according to AP. Protesters outside the Lewiston event held images of Kavanaugh, AP photo captions showed.
Who is running in Maine’s Senate election?
Collins, 73, is running for a sixth term against Jackson, 58, a former president of the Maine Senate. Jackson was scheduled to campaign in Portland the following day with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, illustrating both campaigns’ use of high-profile allies in the final stretch.
Collins has sought to separate herself from Trump during the campaign, while Jackson’s campaign has made the president central to its argument against her. In early October, Collins said she was “not exactly” Trump’s favorite senator and did not expect him to campaign in Maine, AP reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.