Collins distances herself from Trump in Maine debate: "Not exactly his favorite senator"
Republican Senator Susan Collins stressed her independence from President Donald Trump in a televised debate against Democrat Troy Jackson. Polls show the two candidates running neck and neck.
Maine's Republican senator, Susan Collins, openly separated herself from US President Donald Trump during a televised debate on Tuesday with Democratic challenger Troy Jackson. She sought to project independence in a state that has voted against Trump three times.
Collins said she was not the president's "favorite senator". In a boast unusual for a Republican, she noted that she had voted with Democrat Joe Biden more than 90% of the time while he was president. She also claimed to vote against her own party more often than any other senator.
Jackson's attack
Jackson, 58, a veteran former state legislator, was making his first appearance before a broad audience since replacing Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee. Platner withdrew in July after sexual assault allegations, which he denied. The race could be vital to Democratic hopes of winning control of the Senate.
Jackson portrayed Collins as a Trump loyalist, saying she voted with the president 96% of the time. He focused in particular on her 2018 vote for conservative Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, linking it to the court's later overturning of Roe v Wade, which for half a century guaranteed the national right to abortion. He asked voters whether they would trust her to choose the next Supreme Court justice.
Differences with the president
Collins, 73, a senator since 1996, has often presented herself as a moderate. Maine has backed the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1992.
She differed from Trump on several issues, including the war with Iran, which she called "not well thought out" and which she said she had voted nine times to end. When moderator Gregg Lagerquist mentioned a possible Trump visit to Maine, Collins said she did not believe he would come and had heard nothing from his office.
She also pointed to differences on rural healthcare and on tariffs against Canada, with which the state shares a border. Polls show the two candidates running neck and neck.
