Susan Collins’ most infamous “yes” vote is back on the ballot. Maine’s senior senator is seeking reelection for the first time since Brett Kavanaugh joined the Supreme Court majority that erased Roe v. Wade, and her 2018 vote to confirm him now doubles as a test of her credibility in a state that leans Democratic and largely supports abortion rights. Collins, one of only two Republican senators who back abortion access, says she believed Kavanaugh when he pledged to respect precedent and has since said she feels misled. Still, Collins insists she does not regret the vote and would cast it again, the New York Times reports.
Interviews with former aides, colleagues, activists, and participants in the confirmation fight describe a senator who painstakingly vetted Kavanaugh, discounted Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation that the nominee sexually assaulted her in high school, and has bristled ever since at the backlash. The decision severed Collins’ once-close ties with Planned Parenthood, fueled years of protests, and recast her reputation among many Maine voters. Allies frame the vote as a difficult, principled call; opponents see it as the defining act that helped end a constitutional right and exposed, in their view, a gap between Collins’ pro-choice brand and her record. A Democratic super PAC is making that point in an ad campaign.
Maine Democrats assail Collins’ refusal to accept responsibility for the effect on women of Kavanagh’s confirmation in a Portland Press Herald op-ed piece here.