Augusta, Maine – All month long, as part of the Maine Democratic Party’s “Collins Cost Us” August recess campaign, Mainers have been calling out Susan Collins and her record of costing Mainers their health care, their rights, and a real leader in the Senate who prioritizes Maine.

From press conferences detailing the consequences of Collins’ actions and inaction, to news ads highlighting her failures, to hundreds protesting and booing Collins at “one of the few public events on Collins’ calendar during the August recess,” Susan Collins once again had an awful month more than a year out from her reelection campaign.  

Here is a recap of Collins’ awful August and how Collins Cost Mainers:

“LOUD BOOS AND HUNDREDS OF PROTESTORS” → Mainers read and watched wall-to-wall coverage of Collins being “met with loud boos and hundreds of protesters” at “one of the few public events on Collins’ calendar during the August recess.” Protestors criticized Collins for her votes to confirm Supreme Court nominees who overturned Roe, her advancing the GOP’s budget bill that guts Medicaid, and her refusing to meet with constituents in a meaningful way. Just days after one protest, Collins was again protested by at least 50 Mainers for “not talking to her constituents” about her disastrous record.

CALLED OUT → The Maine Democratic Party hosted multiple events where leaders and health care experts detailed how Collins' record and failure to lead continues to cost Maine – from her vote to confirm SCOTUS justices who overturned Roe to voting to advance the GOP budget bill that makes devastating cuts to programs like Medicaid. Mainers called out Collins, shared powerful personal stories, and discussed the specific consequences Maine will suffer from thanks to Susan Collins. See the key moments and remarks here and here.

 

CALLED OUT → The Maine Democratic Party hosted multiple events where leaders and health care experts detailed how Collins' record and failure to lead continues to cost Maine – from her vote to confirm SCOTUS justices who overturned Roe to voting to advance the GOP budget bill that makes devastating cuts to programs like Medicaid. Mainers called out Collins, shared powerful personal stories, and discussed the specific consequences Maine will suffer from thanks to Susan Collins. See the key moments and remarks here and here.


NEWS ADS → The Maine Democratic Party ran a homepage billboard advertisement on Bangor Daily News highlighting how Collins has cost Mainers their health care, freedom, and the representation they deserve.

CONSEQUENCES OF COLLINS → Throughout August, reporting highlighted how Mainers are paying the price of Collins’ “key” “pivotal vote” to advance the GOP budget bill and her refusal to use the power and seniority she campaigns on to stand up to her party or stop harmful legislation. See the coverage.

DONOR EXPOSURE → Multiple reports revealed the controversial sources of funding backing Collins, highlighting how Collins is more interested in doing the bidding of her donors than the Mainers that elected her.  

RELIABLE FOR GOP, NOT FOR MAINE → Reporting from the Bulwark highlighted how “when it comes to important Republican policies being codified or nominations to key positions getting a green light in the Senate, Collins is a regular deciding vote.” Describing just how calculated Collins rare “no” votes are, the reporting points out “Collins doesn’t want to shoulder too much of the credit or the blame” for her confirmation votes and votes against her party “only after it has become apparent that the damage won’t be massive.”

POLLS SHOW COLLINS OUT OF STEP WITH OPPOSITION TO STOCK TRADE BAN → Just weeks after Collins opposed bipartisan legislation that would prevent her and her spouse from trading and selling stocks, a new poll revealed 95% of Mainers support banning stock trading by a member of Congress, the president, and vice president. Bangor Daily News reported Collins’ portfolio rose by 77.5% in 2024, putting her “eighth among members of Congress for growth.”

CAUGHT RUNNING → Two different videos caught Collins running away from reporter questions about her husband’s stock holdings and Trump’s handling of the Epstein files.

“PATTERN OF WEAKENING SOCIAL SECURITY” → Reporting underscored “Collins’ record shows [a] pattern” of her voting to weaken Social Security, from her vote to advance the GOP budget bill “that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as a ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security,’” to her “long history of voting for measures that undermine Social Security’s solvency.”

 

###