Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) underscored her differences with President Donald Trump during Maine’s first Senate debate Tuesday, telling viewers that she is “not exactly his favorite senator.”
Collins, who is the only Republican to represent a state former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024, sought to distance herself from Trump and his policies on several occasions during her debate against former state Sen. Troy Jackson. The debate saw Collins pressed on the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act policies, the Iran war, tariffs, and her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Jackson, meanwhile, was asked about his support for “Medicare for all,” reiterated his support for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and dodged answering a question about his affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America.
Here are the Washington Examiner’s top takeaways from Maine’s first Senate debate.
1. Collins tries to distance herself from Trump
The Republican senator batted down an attack from Jackson over how often her votes align with Trump’s agenda, asserting the study cited by her opponent “looked at only 30% of the votes.”
“So this is greatly misleading to keep quoting the study that only looked at a third of the votes rather than 90% of the vote,” Collins said. “This study found that I voted against my party more than any other senator on either side of the aisle.”
When asked by moderator Gregg Lagerquist, a veteran news anchor, if she would stand with Trump if he visits Maine ahead of the general election, Collins said she did not believe the president would visit the state at all.
“He’s talking about going to a lot of different states,” Collins said. “I’ve heard nothing from his office, and I’m not exactly his favorite senator.”
“So yes or no?” Lagerquist pressed. “Do you have a yes or no to that?”
“I would say that he is not coming to Maine,” Collins said.
2. Jackson says ‘we can’t eat road salt’ amid affordability concerns
Jackson hammered Collins over the Iran war and Trump’s tariff agenda, arguing that “Mainers can’t afford to pay their bills with a press release or a strongly worded letter like Sen. Collins keeps talking about.”
Collins has been vocally opposed to Trump’s tariffs against Canada and has voted to end them in the Senate. She has also voted to end the Iran war as gas and diesel prices remain high amid the conflict.
“Canada is not China,” Collins said. “It is our neighbor, our friend, our closest ally, and our biggest trading partner. So I have been strongly voting against the tariffs with Canada, but I’ve also been working behind the scenes.”
Collins, highlighting her work in the Senate as a top Republican appropriator, went on to say, “Troy mocked it, but I was successful in getting concrete, pulp, and road salt removed from the tariff list.”
Jackson rebutted Collins’s claim, saying he “didn’t mock the fact that she got road salt back,” but that he “mocked the fact that what about everything else?”
“I mean, we can’t eat road salt, and the thing about it is that everything that she’s doing with the Iran war and stuff like that, there’s going to be so many less people to be able to afford to drive that I’m not even sure the road salt’s going to be worth anything either,” Jackson said.
3. Jackson dodges question over DSA membership
Jackson did not clarify during the debate whether he is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, instead reiterating his support for “Medicare for all.”
“I support Medicare for all, so that people that I know across the state have healthcare,” Jackson said. Maine’s chapter of the DSA previously supported his campaign for governor.
When previously asked if he sees himself as a socialist, Jackson told CNN that he doesn’t “really consider myself anything” and that he is “upset a lot at the Democratic Party.”
Still, Jackson has received endorsements from several progressive organizations, such as Our Revolution, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, and the Sunrise Movement.
Jackson also reiterated his support for abolishing ICE during the debate, homing in on the death of 25-year-old Johan Guerrero, who was shot and killed by an ICE officer two months ago.
“It’s time that ICE is disbanded, and we go back to putting that money in the Customs Border Patrol,” Jackson said. “They have training. They’re law enforcement. People respect them. We don’t respect ICE.”
4. Collins pressed over Kavanaugh vote, Jackson over abortion flip-flop
Both Senate candidates were attacked by each other over their records regarding abortion rights during the debate, with Collins facing attacks over her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who later voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“Eight years ago today, a Maine woman went to D.C. and begged Sen. Collins not to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, but she did it anyways,” Jackson said in his opening remarks. “Even though they begged her, he helped overturn Roe v. Wade, and today she says she has no regrets. And I would, you know, wonder for everyone, including myself, would you trust her to pick the next Supreme Court justice?”
Jackson went on to press Collins over her decision to support Kavanaugh, asking her, “What will it take for you to admit that you’re ever wrong?”
Collins defended her decision to confirm the justice, saying her evaluation of Supreme Court nominees includes looking at their “qualifications, experience, and whether they are fit to serve.”
“As Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the famous justice, said, it would be inappropriate and violate the impartiality of a judge for any nominee to predict how he or she would vote on any issue,” Collins asserted. “I clearly don’t agree with how Brett Kavanaugh voted on Roe v. Wade. I agree with many of the other justices whom I voted also to confirm, who did vote to uphold Roe v. Wade.”
Collins went on to argue that “there’s only one of us on this stage who has always been pro-choice, and that’s me,” later turning her focus to Jackson’s previous stance against abortion.
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“It is Troy who, until 2013, supported such extreme positions that he would not allow for exceptions for a woman to have an abortion, even if her life were at stake, or in cases of rape and incest,” Collins said.
Jackson’s stance on abortion has drastically changed over the years, having previously said in response to a candidate questionnaire in 2010 that “abortion should never be legal.” Jackson now supports a federal right to abortion.