A local chapter of the nation’s largest federation of labor unions bashed Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on Wednesday for campaigning with former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a former Democrat-turned-independent.
Maine’s local AFL-CIO President Cynthia Phinney called it “mystifying and insulting” that Collins would campaign with Manchin, citing his work as an adviser for the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which Phinney claimed is responsible for “killing hundreds of Maine jobs.”
“It is mystifying and insulting that Susan Collins would bring this man to Maine to campaign with her when it is so painfully clear that the private equity firm he advises has exacted so much economic misery on Maine communities, and continues to pursue more opportunities to amass more wealth at the direct expense of Maine families,” Phinney wrote in a statement posted on social media.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Apollo Global Management for comment.
Maine AFL-CIO is backing Collins’ opponent, Troy Jackson, in the Senate race, and hosted a “Rally for the Working Class” with the Dropkick Murphys and Jackson in Biddeford, Maine, last week.
Manchin has repeatedly called Collins the “soul of the Senate” and is campaigning with her in Maine after the pair formed an alliance during their overlap in the Senate.
The former West Virginia senator joined Apollo Global Management in February 2025 following his retirement from the Senate. In a statement announcing his role as an adviser for the firm, Apollo CEO Marc Rowan said Manchin’s “distinguished career experience and expertise will be incredibly valuable to Apollo and our clients and partners.”
“We look forward to his contributions to help meet the unprecedented capital need required to drive the global industrial renaissance and support the significant retirement needs of Americans and families around the globe,” Rowan wrote.
Manchin told reporters it was “ridiculous” that Democrats are trying to oust Collins, and that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer “needs more Susan Collins, no matter what side of the aisle they’re on.”
Phinney, however, accused Collins of “selling out our state in the interest of billionaires,” and called her campaigning with Manchin a “slap in the face to everyone who has suffered at the hands of the men of extreme wealth Susan Collins has cozied up to in her 30 years in the Senate.”
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She continued, “So to Mr. Manchin and all other private equity interests that seek to do harm to our state and our local economies, we say ‘Welcome to Maine, now go home.’”
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Collins’s campaign for comment. The Washington Examiner was unable to reach Manchin.