Politics
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AUGUSTA, Maine — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins saved sharpest remarks for Democratic primary frontrunner Graham Platner and unified with former Gov. Paul LePage on the first day of the Republican state convention on Friday.
The gathering unofficially marks the home stretch of an eventful June primary season that has seen Platner, a political newcomer, take a commanding lead over Gov. Janet Mills amid two crowded and uncertain primaries for the right to replace Mills in the Blaine House.
Republicans gathered at the Augusta Civic Center on the first day of a convention that nodded to Maine’s outsized role in the race for Senate control. The Democratic-leaning state is one of that party’s top targets for the second time since 2020, although Platner has thrown a wrench in the plans of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who backs Mills.
Collins gave a 15-minute speech that touted her work over her five terms in Washington and plum spot as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. She previewed a familiar tactic: not mentioning President Donald Trump while focusing on local issues like fire station funding and road improvements.
“I’m going to be talking about my record of delivering for my beloved state of Maine. I will highlight my experience, my knowledge and seniority, which makes such a big difference for our state,” she said.
It’s an increasingly difficult path to walk given Trump’s deep unpopularity. He had 38% approval in Maine in a survey released this week. Collins has trailed Platner in several polls of their hypothetical November matchup and has routed Mills in polls of the primary.
But Maine has seen this before. Collins was behind in every single survey of her 2020 race against former House Speaker Sara Gideon, whom she handily defeated in a race that drew a historic $200 million in campaign and outside spending.
This race will be far larger, with $116 million in ad spending and reservations already booked through the rest of the year. Underscoring the stakes of the race, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the head of Republicans’ campaign apparatus who has projected up to a $600 million race in Maine, was set to headline an evening banquet in a wing of the civic center.
Collins reserved sharp lines for Platner. She referenced the controversies that rocked his campaign in October, including a past Reddit post that called police “bastards” and a tattoo of a Nazi skull-and-crossbones symbol that the candidate covered up. At one point, she said Schumer was misrepresenting her record to cover up his own bad policies.
“When I think about it, his approach is like trying to cover up an outrageous tattoo,” Collins said in a segue to Platner. “You can paint over it, but we all know what’s underneath.”
The senator also took digs at Mills, including a section in which she called for unity around the eventual Republican gubernatorial nominee to say Maine “cannot afford four more years of failed leadership in Augusta.”
Democrats are gearing up for another attempt to link Collins and Trump. In a statement, the state party focused on her 2017 vote for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and his ensuing vote to overturn federal abortion rights, saying Mainers “are fed up.”
Collins and LePage embraced each other at the convention. Their campaigns split a hospitality suite for attendees in a show of unity. When she was considering running to replace him in 2017, LePage urged supporters to persuade her not to. But he emerged as a key Collins backer and surrogate for her on the right flank in her 2020 race.
LePage is now running to replace the outgoing U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine’s 2nd District, giving a Friday speech saying Democrats want to put Mainers in “economic slavery” by promoting large welfare programs. LePage didn’t mention her in his speech, but she predicted that she would soon not be the only New England Republican in Congress.
“Next year, I’m going to have at least one new partner, Paul LePage, and he will be the next congressman from Maine, representing the 2nd District,” she said.
