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A top Senate Republican who Democrats are salivating over to flip his seat is getting some unexpected help from a former member of his own party, delivering a political snub to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Former Sen. Joe Manchin, who left the Democratic Party to become an independent before retiring from the Senate, is making a trip to Maine to support Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the lawmaker’s campaign confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Collins is in a tight race against former Maine state Sen. Troy Jackson as she seeks a sixth term in the upper chamber. The race remained tight after being shaken up earlier this year when Graham Platner dropped out after a sexual assault allegation rocked his campaign.
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Sen. Joe Manchin, IW.Va., leaves the U.S. Capitol for a private meeting between Senate Democrats and top advisers to President Joe Biden, July 11, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
Manchin’s visit to Collins’ trail, first reported by Semafor, comes as Schumer and Democrats have tried to portray Collins as a rubber stamp for President Donald Trump, although she has broken with the president often during his second term, including over his signature legislation, the “big, beautiful bill.”
Manchin told the outlet that his appearance alongside Collins, with whom he served his entire career in the Upper House, was intended to demonstrate to Maine voters that Collins had a bipartisan record that was instrumental in advancing key legislation, like his infrastructure package passed under former President Joe Biden, and blocking Trump’s policy desires, like repealing Obamacare.
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“She’s not a Trump senator,” Manchin said.
Her foray onto the campaign trail in Maine on Wednesday will come just 24 hours before another major Democratic surrogate visits Vacationland: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Jackson was also joined by other progressive heavyweights on the campaign trail, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
“Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez represent the far left of the national Democratic Party,” Blake Kernen, a spokesperson for Collins, told Fox News Digital. “The fact that they are all campaigning in Maine for Troy Jackson shows voters exactly how he would govern.”
Schumer says he’s not going anywhere, but his own candidates aren’t ready to support him.
Sen. Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, is locked in a tight race against former Maine state Sen. Troy Jackson as she seeks a sixth term in the upper chamber. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“Senator Manchin’s campaign for Senator Collins is a testament to his effective, independent leadership and commitment producing results that have greatly benefited Maine and America,” she continued.
Manchin’s decision to support Collins is a sharp rebuke to Schumer and the Democratic Party and comes after his years of serving as a thorn in the side of Democratic leaders and previous Democratic administrations while still in the Senate.
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In his memoir published last year, Manchin ripped former President Barack Obama, Biden and Schumer, particularly over Schumer’s support for abolishing the filibuster. That’s why he wrote that he “wanted Republicans to win a majority in the Senate in 2024.”
“I thought this was the only hope of preserving the Senate as an institution,” Manchin said. “I sincerely believed that, if in power, Republicans would maintain the filibuster, the last safeguard preventing total partisan rule.”
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