Susan Collins and Troy Jackson clash over Trump and seniority in Maines first Senate debate
Republican Sen.Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson debated for the first time Tuesday in Maine, trading attacks over President Donald Trump, the cost of living and abortion in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.Maine is central to Democrats’ path to the Senate majority, as they try to capitalize on the president’s unpopularity.
Jackson tried to do just that on Tuesday by tying Collins to Trump, name-checking the president at least 20 times in one hour of debating on CBS13 News.“It matters who you stand with,” Jackson said in his opening statement.“I don’t owe Donald Trump and the billionaires anything.
I don’t fight for billionaires like she does.”Collins, meanwhile, emphasized multiple instances where she opposed the Trump administration.She also sought to localize the race and pitch her seniority — and her perch as chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee — as a boost to Maine.She touted $1.5 billion in federal funds that she has brought home to the state for 672 projects in the last five years, “from Madawaksa to Kittery, from Eastport to Rumford.”“I’ve been able to bring home federal dollars to help ease the burden on our taxpayers,” Collins said.Jackson set the tone for the debate early by connecting Collins to Trump and repeatedly saying she votes in alignment with him 96% of the time in the Senate.
Collins questioned the methodology of the study he cited.In a moment that captured her tricky relationship with her party’s leader, Collins dodged two questions about whether she would stand with the president if he visited Maine, with Trump recently teasing a visit to the Pine Tree State.Collins said only that she doesn’t expect him to come and that she’s “not exactly his favorite senator.”Collins’ answer prompted a grin from Jackson.
Trump has said Collins is “not my favorite person” but nevertheless endorsed her for re-election, and Vice President JD Vance ha...