BANGOR, Maine — The marathon of debates in the Maine Senate race has ended, but there is still one unanswered question: Just how large will President Donald Trump loom in November? That question was at the center of the clashes between Democrat Troy Jackson and longtime GOP Sen.Susan Collins as they faced off in four debates over the last two weeks, including a finale on Thursday hosted by MainePublic, the Portland Press Herald and NewsCenter Maine.Jackson is betting voters’ views of Trump, who has never won Maine, will dominate their views of this Senate race, which could determine which party controls the chamber next year.
He repeatedly tied Collins to Trump throughout all four debates.Collins, meanwhile, tried to appeal Mainers who want a senator willing to break with his or her party.
“I voted against my own party more often than any other senator on either side of the aisle,” Collins said during the final debate.“That is not something that Troy could ever say.
He’s going to be an automatic vote for the Democratic position, no matter what.We have lost a lot of the centrists, and one reason I’m running again is we need people who will work across party lines.”“The reality is that 100% of the time, when Donald Trump needs her, Susan Collins is going to be there,” Jackson countered.
“That has happened time and time again.” Trump’s policies were intertwined with the major topics in covered in all four debates, including high costs, the war in Iran, immigration enforcement, and an ongoing trade war with Canada, which shares a border with Maine.On Thursday, Collins was also pressed on her support for some Trump Cabinet officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.
Kennedy Jr.She said she did not regret voting to confirm him, while noting that she disagrees with Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism.
Collins said Kennedy has helped release more funds from a program to help low-income Mainers purchase heating oil amid soar...