Republican Senator Susan Collins is facing questions about her husband’s work for a Washington lobbying firm as she approaches a closely contested reelection vote against Democrat Troy Jackson. Collins, Maine’s senior senator and chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, is seeking a sixth term in the November 3 election. She’s represented the state in the Senate since January 1997 and has built her political identity around bipartisanship and independence from the Republican Party leadership.
But the work of her husband, longtime Republican operative and former lobbyist Thomas Daffron, is now receiving scrutiny amid a wider debate over data centers, political influence and rising electricity costs. According to his biography from the nonprofit Stennis Center for Public Service, Daffron has held multiple senior positions across business, politics and the government. For instance, he previously served as chief of staff to Republican senators William Cohen, Fred Thompson and Lisa Murkowski.
He also managed Elizabeth Dole’s 1999 presidential campaign and advised on multiple state and federal political campaigns, including Collins’. Before becoming the Chief Operating Officer of Jefferson Consulting Group, a Washington-based government consulting firm, Daffron worked as Executive Vice President of Chesapeake Enterprises, which is a firm that advises clients on government policy and lobbies officials on their behalf. Federal lobbying records show that Chesapeake Enterprises was registered to lobby on behalf of Hillwood Investments.
A 2022 disclosure shows Chesapeake representing Hillwood and reporting $20,000 in lobbying income for the reporting period, with "Real Estate Investments" listed as the specific lobbying issue. Hillwood is involved in industrial development, including data-center projects. Its website says it has been involved in data-center work for at least 20 years and that its AllianceTexas development includes a 400-acre data-center campus.
Although the federal disclosure doesn’t specify that Chesapeake's lobbying concerned data centers, American Journal News has linked the firm's work for Hillwood to data-center development. The outlet also reported that Daffron received consulting income from Chesapeake in 2025, when the firm was also lobbying the federal government on behalf of Hillwood. There is, however, an important distinction to make here.
While American Journal News reported that Daffron received consulting income from Chesapeake while the firm represented Hillwood, there’s no evidence in the available lobbying records that Daffron personally lobbied for Hillwood or worked on data-center policy. The Maine Democratic Party has highlighted Daffron’s work for Chesapeake as part of its criticism of Collins ahead of the November election. Newsweek has contacted Collins’ campaign for comment about Daffron’s consulting work for Chesapeake Enterprises.
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