GORHAM, Maine (AP) — For years, Planned Parenthood’s support for Susan Collins was enough to persuade Erin Evans to vote for the longtime U.S. senator from Maine, believing the moderate Republican would protect access to abortion.
Evans is now “just mad at myself” over those votes. The 56-year-old Portland man described critical Collins vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court, where President Donald Trump’s nominee ultimately helped overturn the constitutional right to abortionlike a betrayal.
“I was a really uninformed voter,” Evans said. “I thought any woman in Maine would probably agree with me.”
The November 3 election will be the first time Collins has been on the ballot since the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, leading to the banning of abortion in much of the United States. This time, Evans says she supports Democrats Troy JacksonA former legislator and lumberjack trying to deny Collins a sixth term.
Jackson and Democrats hope voters like Evans will help flip a seat in a state the party has made a priority in the quest to win back the Senate.
Collins and Jackson worked to appeal to women, who make up the majority of Maine’s population and had a slightly higher voting rate than men, according to a report. recent report by democracy defense groups. In the campaign advertisements of both candidates, women feature prominently.
Democrats’ ads have focused heavily on Collins’ vote for Kavanaugh and portray her as conceding to Trump. The Democratic-aligned advocacy group Affordable Maine spent nearly $10 million on ads highlighting the senator’s support for other Trump-appointed judges who oppose abortion. Another $32 million was spent by Win Senate, a political action committee focused on Collins. Planned Parenthood Votes has so far spent at least $500,000 to run ads that include a voter who regrets voting for Collins because of her vote for Kavanaugh.
Still, Jackson faces a daunting challenge.
Collins has a 30-year record of winning elections, even though Maine voters have rejected Republican presidential candidates, including Trump, since 1988.
And this issue is lagging behind in terms of importance to voters. A New York Times/Siena poll conducted in September found that when asked in their own words which issue will be most important in deciding their vote in Congress in November, almost no Maine voters mentioned abortion.
‘I don’t regret’ voting to confirm Kavanaugh, Collins says
Collins has long called herself a “pro-choice” Republican and a supporter of women’s rights to abortion. She was one of the few Republicans supported by Planned Parenthood earlier in her political career. In 2022, she co-sponsored legislation to enshrine federal abortion protections into law.
This position put her at odds with her party, but was in agreement with Maine voters.
In 2020, the last time Collins sought re-election, the vast majority of Maine voters in the Senate race, 76%, said the Supreme Court should not overturn Roe v. Wade, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. This included most of Collins’ voters. About 35 percent of voters who supported Collins in his reelection bid said they wanted Roe overturned.
Collins’ 2018 vote in favor of Kavanaugh was crucial for its confirmation. At the time, Collins waited months before announcing his decision in a 45-minute speech. The final vote was 50-48.
Kavanaugh then joined the 6-3 conservative majority in removing the constitutional right to abortion.
Collins criticized the high court’s decision in 2022, but she never publicly wavered in her decision to confirm Kavanaugh. She said journalists in June that “I do not regret this vote”. Collins had said before the 2018 vote that Kavanaugh, during a two-hour meeting with her, said he considered Roe to be established law.
But his confirmation vote is what stands out in the minds of voters like Bente Lundh, 67, of Falmouth.
“She positioned herself as a moderate voter, but she really undercut that by voting for Kavanaugh,” Lundh said.
For others, Collins long-standing record as moderate continues to enjoy their support even if they are disappointed with the eventual overturning of Roe.
“I think I’ve tried not to let my party allegiance blind me to what might be a better path from time to time,” said Mary Ann Lynch, a Democrat supporting Collins. “In my opinion, neither party has a monopoly on the truth and the best way to do things. So I think it’s really important to have people reaching across the aisle.”
Lynch added that Collins may have voted to confirm Kavanaugh, but she also voted to confirm Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, who disagreed with the abortion ruling. They were appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama.
Jackson makes his case to women and abortion rights advocates
Since launching his campaign in July, Jackson has announced a “Women for Troy” coalition made up of women from all 16 Maine counties and has garnered support from abortion rights groups Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All.
Jackson was one of the state’s top senators when the landmark 1973 ruling was overturned in 2022. He says he worked to pass “some of the strongest protections for abortion access in the country.”
Still, Jackson had his own obstacles.
The Democrat became a Senate candidate at the last minute after Graham Platner dropped out this summer following criticism of his past relationships with women and allegations of sexual assault, which Platner denies. Jackson is now scrambling to win over voters who might be wary of his ties to Platner. The two campaigned together as Jackson initially sought the Democratic nomination for governor, but lost.
Jackson also had to explain his evolving support for abortion rights and same-sex marriage, which he opposed years ago. Jackson now says he was wrong about his past beliefs and changed his mind after talking to women. Jackson campaign spokeswoman Maggie Amjad said Jackson now holds a “100 percent rating from Planned Parenthood of Maine.”
Blake Kernen, Collins’ spokesman, described the senator as the only “reliably pro-choice” candidate in the race.
Abortion not a priority for Maine voters
While Jackson reminds voters of Collins’ role in fighting for abortion rights, he is doing so in a state that hasn’t been much affected by the decision, compared to Republican-controlled areas where many abortion clinics have closed, said Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine.
“If you were in a state where all the abortion clinics were closed, this might be a bigger problem,” Brewer said. “That hasn’t been the case here.”
Democratic-controlled state legislature in 2023 approved a law which allows abortions at any time if deemed medically necessary by a physician, and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed into law legislation protecting health care providers. abortion and gender-affirming care legal proceedings brought by other states.
A CNN/SSRS survey of potential Maine voters conducted in late August and early September found that most voters are still unhappy with the decision to overturn Roe, but that anger over the loss of abortion rights may be overshadowed by broader concerns about the economy.
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Kruesi reported from Providence that RI Associated Press poll editor Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.
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