Vice President JD Vance championed Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) as a key ally in the Senate during a public engagement at a manufacturing facility in Brewer, Maine, on Monday.
Collins, who is seeking reelection against Democrat Troy Jackson, was not at the event with Vance. Her campaign spokesman, Blake Kernan, cited the senator’s personal schedule when asked about her absence from the event by the Washington Examiner. Kernan also touted Collins’s working relationship with Vance.
“And of course, the second shoutout I got to give is to my dear friend Susan Collins, the senator from Maine. Thank you,” Vance said during his opening remarks. “And whenever I’m in Maine, I got to give Susan a little bit of crap, because as you know, Susan is the most independent member of the United States Senate, and as the president of the United States Senate, she sometimes makes my job just a little bit harder.”
Collins has maintained a willingness to buck the GOP on high-profile votes during President Donald Trump’s second term. Earlier this month, the Maine senator announced that she would oppose the confirmation of Todd Blanche for attorney general. Collins broke with most Republican senators in April, when she voted with Democrats to advance an Iran war powers resolution that would withdraw American forces from Iran.
Despite her independent streak, Trump endorsed her reelection bid in June when she was expected to run against Graham Platner. Platner exited the race as reports about controversial behavior with past girlfriends snuffed out support for his campaign.
Although Trump has not always expressed happiness with Collins, he has not supported a primary challenger against her, unlike other Republicans who have incurred his wrath.
Vance praised Collins as a lawmaker more concerned about constituents than party ideology.
“But she makes it harder because she is coming to work every single day and fighting not for a political party or not for any abstraction, she comes to work every single day, and she fights for the great people of Maine,” Vance said about Collins. “And I’ve seen it.”
“She has been to my house probably a half dozen times, the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory, and I’ve never seen a person who is more attuned to the details of every single thing,” Vance continued. “She’s always asking, ‘What does this do for Maine? How is this good for Maine? How is this bad for Maine?’ And she tries to get as much good for this state out of Washington and as little bad out of Washington for this state.”
The vice president claimed Collins’s efforts are “a very hard job. But she does an amazing job. And so, please give it up to our very independent friend Susan Collins.”
VANCE SAYS DEMOCRATS ARE THE PARTY OF GRAD SCHOOL VOTERS, NOT UNIONS
Democrats face a harder task flipping the Senate than the House during this midterm election cycle, as they need to flip four seats while competing in Republican-friendly territory. Democrats will need to flip Collins’s seat if they have any credible chance of retaking the Senate.
Vance previously visited Maine in May. His visit on Monday is meant to champion former Gov. Paul LePage’s campaign for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.