{"id":11546,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/susan-collins\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:07:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:40","slug":"susan-collins","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/susan-collins\/","title":{"rendered":"Susan Collins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Five terms in the U.S. Senate, 1997-2026; ran for governor in 1994, but lost in the general.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Lowering costs: Make Mainers\u2019 lives more affordable by working across party lines on commonsense policies to lower everyday costs.\n\nFunding medical research: Reduce healthcare costs and fund research to prevent and cure disease and save lives. Last year, I blocked a 40% NIH cut and increased it by $400M instead.\n\nDelivering for Maine: Use my Appropriations chairmanship to fund roads, bridges, hospitals, fire stations and other community projects to create good-paying jobs and grow our economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I\u2019m running for reelection because experience, seniority and independence matter. Maine deserves a bipartisan senator who listens, works with both parties and delivers results. At a time when Washington feels increasingly divided and dysfunctional, I will continue to be a steady, independent voice for Maine focused on solving problems, bringing people together and getting things done.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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If elected, how would you work with the Trump administration to deliver results for Maine? How would you push back?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I worked with Presidents from both parties when their policies benefitted Maine, and opposed them when they did not. I voted against the Big Beautiful Bill because I opposed its Medicaid cuts. I've pushed back on tariffs hurting our lobster and forestry industries and voted to end the Iran War. I worked with the Trump administration to enact the PPP, which sustained 250,000+ Maine jobs during the pandemic, and to implement my Social Security Fairness Act benefiting 25,000 retired Mainers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Due in large part to partisan gridlock, Congress has become historically unproductive. Given the lack of laws being passed, how would you deliver results for your constituents?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I have never let partisan gridlock prevent me from delivering results for Maine. In the last five years, I secured $1.5 billion for Maine communities \u2014 not including the billions I secured for BIW and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. In 2023-24, I authored one third of the healthcare bills that became law. At the same time, the high-quality constituent services at my six Maine offices have consistently helped Mainers receive tax refunds, veterans benefits and resolve issues with federal agencies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Many experts agree that over the past few decades, Congress has steadily lost power to the executive branch. Is this an acceptable trend? If not, what would you do to reverse it?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I've led efforts to defend Congress's power of the purse and oppose executive overreach, regardless of which party holds the White House. As Appropriations Chair, I ensure Congress, not the executive branch, decides how federal dollars are spent. I also voted to reaffirm Congress's Article I war powers by supporting an end to hostilities with Iran. Real oversight and appropriations bills are how we uphold the balance laid out in our Constitution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5051,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Susan","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Margaret","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Collins","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":11543,"voter_guide_candidate_age":73,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"U.S. Senator","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"Caribou native from a sixth-generation family that founded a small retail lumber business in 1844. One of six siblings. Maine\u2019s first Appropriations Chair in 92 years. Never missed a roll call vote.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"B.A. in government from St. Lawrence University, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. Graduate of Caribou High School.","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=136Ghmn7bI7Njwmi3waxABhbk_tenPkNU","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[564],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-11546","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-republican"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/candidate"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11547,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/11546\/revisions\/11547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=11546"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=11546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}