Collins spent September voting against saving Mainers’ health care and suffering from damning reports

Augusta, Maine – In case you missed it, Susan Collins had a super bad September – from damning new reports exposing her corruption and self-interest, to Mainers demanding she “step aside” as she refuses to stand up to her party, to analysts highlighting her litany of vulnerabilities as she prepares to run for a sixth term.

Here is a brief recap:

SEEN ON TV: MAINERS “COULD SEE THEIR PREMIUMS SKYROCKET” → Mainers watched and read about fellow Mainers hammering Collins for voting against a bill that would have saved health care for 50,000 Mainers who are at risk of seeing their insurance premiums skyrocket when enhanced premium ACA tax credits expire – with everyday Mainers saying, “the reality is that [Collins] could have stopped this from occurring and she chose not to.”

COLLINS EXPOSED FOR

  • DOING WALL STREET’s BIDDING→ Reporting revealed a private equity CEO funneled $2 million to a PAC backing Collins right before she cast a decisive vote to advance the toxic GOP budget bill that extends tax breaks for private equity firms. In 2020, the same donor “backed” Collins reelection campaign after she backed down from her own amendment he opposed.

  • INSURANCE COMPANY TIES → Reporting found Collins raked in major campaign donations from insurance companies who are planning to raise health care “premiums on Mainers by as much as 23% in 2026,” thanks in part to Collins’ inaction. The report details how the expiration of the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits is contributing to rising premium costs, pointing out Collins “has yet to sponsor” any legislative move to extend the tax credits.

  • LAVISH CAMPAIGN SPENDING → New reporting revealed Susan Collins has increased her campaign spending on lavish hotels and fine dining in her latest term – finding $320,000 of Collins’ $700,000 spent on travel, hotels, and dining in the Washington, D.C. area came in the last four years alone, and while detailing Collins’ expenditures “at five-star properties and other extravagant resorts.”

COLLINS CALLED OUT → In light of the revealing stories, Maine Democrats hosted a press call, joined by End Citizens United, to highlight how Susan Collins is more concerned with fighting for her own bottom line and doing the bidding of her Wall Street and insurance company donors than she is with helping Mainers.

“NEED THE EVIDENCE … [OF] AMERICANS GETTING SICKER” → Susan Collins was caught saying “we’re going to need the evidence [...] [of] Americans getting sicker as a result” of the GOP’s cuts to health care in order for her and Congress to address the harm caused by the GOP budget bill that Collins greenlit.

MAINERS CALL FOR COLLINS TO “STEP ASIDE” → Mainers slammed Susan Collins for refusing to stand up to the Trump Administration and instead being a reliable vote for the GOP – criticizing everything from her vote to confirm nearly every Trump cabinet nominee to her “pivotal vote” to advance Republicans' dangerous budget bill that will have devastating impacts on Maine.

NOT A GOOD LOOK → WMTW’s “In The Arena” segment detailed some of Susan Collins' vulnerabilities as she weighs running for reelection ranging from her record low poll numbers, to her failing to use her power and seniority to defend Maine, to the hypocrisy of her filing “hollow” complaints towards Trump administration cabinet secretaries she voted to confirm, like RFK Jr.


 

COLLINS’ “SUPPORT FOR TRUMP” COULD “COST [HER] RELECTION” → Reporting highlighted how Susan Collins is “submitting to the president’s will,” as she refuses to use the power and seniority she once campaigned on to stand up to her party – pointing out Collins’ statement that budget negotiations “are above [her] pay grade,” while saying “the idea that an appropriations chairwoman would say this even a decade ago would be stunning.” The report emphasized Collins’ “support for Trump might hurt her in a state that votes for Democrats.”

BLOCKS EPSTEIN FILES RELEASE → Mainers saw wall-to-wall coverage highlighting Collins’ vote to block an amendment demanding the release of the Epstein files even as a recent poll found 89% of Mainers believe the Trump administration should release all documents related to the Epstein case.

REAFFIRMING RFK JR. SUPPORT → Collins again dodged the press and refused to back away from her support for RFK Jr. even after the Collins-confirmed HHS Secretary was “grilled on health care policies in [a] contentious Senate hearing,” and after he had already slashed cancer research funding, gutted health agencies keeping Americans safe and healthy, eliminated Maine jobs and canceled $91 million in funding for Maine public health programs.

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