Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate Republican seeking re-election in a blue-leaning state, is not joining Vice President JD Vance on Monday as he stops in her home state of Maine. Collins, who at times has opposed President Donald Trump's legislative priorities, is a top target for Democrats this year as she runs in a midterm race that's among roughly a dozen that will determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority. Vance's stop in Maine comes as Collins opposes Trump's move this past weekend to impose 50% tariffs on a range of goods from Canada, which shares a long border with Maine.
And the senator is also opposed to new U.S. Postal Service rules that, if implemented, could rein in mail-in voting. The vice president on Monday delivers remarks in Brewer, Maine, at Compotech, a defense technology manufacturer.
It's the second stop this year by Vance in Maine and the second time that Collins has not teamed up with the vice president. SUSAN COLLINS DROPS BRUTAL REMINDER OF DEMOCRAT CHALLENGER ROCKED BY ACCUSATIONS "I am already scheduled on Monday, so I will not be able to join the vice president," Collins told reporters on Saturday. The Senate was in session when Vance held an event in Bangor, Maine, in May, and Collins stayed in Washington.
The senator holds a historic attendance record of casting over 10,000 consecutive roll call votes in the Senate dating back three decades. But Collins, speaking to reporters as she marched in the annual Madison-Anson Days parade, her seventh parade this summer, highlighted that she teamed up last week with Energy Secretary Chris Wright when he stopped in Maine to tour a federally funded battery storage project in Lincoln built on the site of a closed paper mill. "I really appreciated Secretary Wright's presence," Collins said.
WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL IN MAINE'S CRUCIAL SENATE RACE SHOWS Collins, who was one of a small group of Republicans who voted to convict Trump in a 2021 Senate trial after the House impeached him following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has at times voted against the Trump administration's wishes. "I still think imposing new tariffs on Canada is a mistake," Collins said on Saturday.
Collins also referred to the proposed U.S. Post Office rule to implement a Trump executive order to rein in mail-in voting by refusing to deliver absentee ballots in states that have not turned over their raw voter rolls to the Justice Department or Department of Homeland Security. "Mail-in ballots are very important to the people of Maine," Collins said.
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