Democrats and reproductive rights groups are making Sen. Susan Collins’s vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh the centerpiece of their campaign to unseat her.
Opponents argue Collins paved the way for the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade by casting a pivotal vote in Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson released an ad blasting Collins for her votes to confirm both Kavanaugh and Justice Neil Gorsuch, who also voted to overturn Roe.
The Kavanaugh confirmation carries greater political weight because Collins was the deciding vote, coming after dramatic hearings that included claims of past sexual abuse against him.
Collins has consistently stated she does not regret voting for Kavanaugh, holding firm despite sustained pressure from abortion rights advocates throughout the political cycle.
The Jackson campaign framed its candidate as the direct alternative to Collins on reproductive rights, releasing a pointed statement drawing a sharp contrast between the two.
“When Roe v. Wade fell because of Susan Collins’s vote to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, Troy Jackson got to work protecting abortion rights in Maine, helping pass some of the strongest protections in the country,” the Jackson campaign stated.
Collins’s reelection campaign pushed back aggressively, with communications director Blake Kernen telling The Hill that outside groups have struggled to find a credible challenger to the incumbent senator.
“These partisan groups just don’t know what to do about Maine. First, they had to rationalize supporting Graham Platner, who blamed women for their own rapes and had to drop out after a rape allegation,” Kernen said.
Kernen added that Jackson “spent 12 years in elected office as a staunch opponent of reproductive rights and who bullied his female colleagues when he was Senate President,” referencing a reported incident involving a water bottle thrown during a tense meeting.
Jackson acknowledged his record, telling The New York Times, “I’ve made mistakes early on in understanding” abortion, though Planned Parenthood gave him a 100 percent rating on reproductive rights voting as of 2021.
Jim Melcher, professor of political science at the University of Maine at Farmington, noted that Collins’s Kavanaugh vote occurred more than eight years ago, and she has already won reelection once since casting it.
