The race to unseat Susan Collins is resetting around abortion

[marmar]

The race to unseat Susan Collins is resetting around abortion
Democrats say Collins' actions undermine her stated support for reproductive rights — an argument they hope will resonate with the women voters who could decide the Maine Senate race.

By Shefali Luthra, Grace Panetta
Updated July 13, 2026, 3:05 p.m. ET


(The 19th) BANGOR, Maine — As Maine Democrats vie to replace Graham Platner in their state’s Senate race, abortion — a key weakness for Republican Sen. Susan Collins — is set to shape the next phase of the contest, which Democrats view as a prime pick-up opportunity.

Collins, whose home state voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, is considered one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents up for election this year. She has held onto power despite Maine’s blue tilt in large part by branding herself as an independent, and by highlighting her support for healthcare and abortion rights.

But Democrats have sought to challenge that narrative, pointing to Collins’ 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who four years later joined a 5-4 majority to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case. Collins criticized the decision at the time, calling it “ill-considered,” but Democrats are making her vote a central issue.

“It’s rare in modern politics to be able to draw such a straight line between one vote and devastating health consequences,” Nirav Shah said while speaking to voters at a town hall event at a movie theater in Bangor on Sunday. “But in the case of Senator Collins, we have a case study in why every vote as a U.S. senator matters.” ..................(more)

https://19thnews.org/2026/07/maine-senate-race-resets-susan-collins-abortion

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Punish her for installing Kavanaugh on SCOTUS, who in turn

gave us the Dobbs Decision.

[Bluetus]

2. How many elections do we want to lose on this issue?

This is not where the public attention is. The issues that will work for us are AI data centers, billionaire control of government and the permawars Collins always supports.

[Torchlight]

5. It does not follow

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Alright. Add it to "the List".

Collins can be defeated with enough votes against her.

[Quiet Em]

8. Maybe that's not where your attention is, but for women this is a damn important issue.

[mopinko]

12. scotus, more generally, shd sink her.

and the hypocrisy of that vote.

[Bluetus]

14. Yes, absolutely. People are becoming aware of the danger of the SCOTUS

The point of elections is to win, not to advertise for one's favorite cause.

To win, we need to go with the issues that have the most energy at the moment.

[mopinko]

17. i will say, re abortion, tho-

i dont think ppl realized that outlawing abortion wd endanger the lives of all pregnant women, too.
i dont think they saw women bleeding out in hospital parking lots. women w wanted pregnancies ending up dead…

“unintended consequences” is quite a danger today. (unintended, maybe, but unforeseeable, um, no.)

[Bluetus]

18. All ltrue. But as a campaign issue it sucks

When we lead with that issue, we LOSE more votes than we gain.

It is the same with LGBT rights. Any sane LGBT folks are already with Dems. Campaigning on it just loses votes.

Don't get me wrong. We must insist that EVERY Dem candidate have a very strong commitment to reproductive rights and LGBT rights and is 100% committed to fighting like hell for those rights. And I am not asking anybody to hide their position on these issues. When these issues come up, the candidates should be clear, principled, and strong. But it isn't on the short list of issues that can win us this election.

Don't lead with these issues. That never works.

[Amishman]

15. This!!! We tried to make revenge for Roe in 2024

It simply isn't a top issue for a lot of voters, and for those who it is, they're already voting blue.

Jobs.
AI.
Corporate greed.

These are the issues we need to push.

[Bluetus]

16. And I should have mentioned what may be the top issue in Maine

That is ICE. Maine is starting to look like another Minneapolis, which seems like a really stupid thing for Trump to do in the middle of the most vulnerable Senate race.

And inflation (which Dems soft-peddle with the nebulous word "affordability". I jest went through a McS drive-through and the exact order that I paid $3.50 for a year ago is now $5.49. People see this every day yet nobody seems to be saying the word "inflation". Everybody can see that our prices are going up 5%, 10% sometimes 50%. Inflation is not the 3% that Trump's government want to claim. I was working on a budget for a non-profit group last night. Virtually every like item (other than salaries) is up at least 10% compared to a year ago. That is insurance, office supplies, equipment rental, everything.

[irisblue]

19. Womens & girls health care is not an issue? Abortion IS health care for some women

https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/abortion-in-the-u-s-dashboard/

https://reproductiverights.org/maps/abortion-laws-by-state/

https://abcnews.com/Health/wireStory/abortion-rights-ballot-4-states-134726923

[Bluetus]

23. I did not say it is not an issue. I said ...

Last edited Tue Jul 14, 2026, 08:49 PM - Edit history (1)

as an ELECTION CAMPAIGN it is a loser and always has been. That is because the people who rank these narrow issues among their top concerns are already with us, and that is a small portion of the number we need to win most elections.

The remainder of the electorate falls into two broad groups:
A) Those who are adamantly opposed to abortion. They will never vote for us, but by making it a big issue, they will make a special effort to go vote.

B) Those who favor fewer abortions, which is most of us. They would rather be discussing other things, but when we only want to talk about the issue that gives them mixed emotions, they are less likely to vote for us.

In other words, we don't gain ANY voters with issues like this. We only lose voters. We are "blessed" with some clear-cut issues this time that really don't have two sides. Big majorities are highly concerned about the impact of AI, social media, and the explosion of data centers. Either we claim that issue forcefully, or the Republicans will twist it to their favor. Likewise, strong majorities think the billionaire tech bros are a big problem, and this is tightly connected with the corruption of SCUTOS and their rulings that allow corporations to buy elections. And large majorities, even including many MAGAs are strongly against the Middle East permawars, and are coming to realize how much damage AIPAC has been doing to our political system. And then there is runaway inflation with Trump's tariffs and daily kickback schemes, and how this is a prelude to whacking Medicare and Social Security (and many other programs the middle class depends on).

THESE are issues we can win on. They are literally there for the taking. There is no big constituency for the dark side of these issues.

[Boo1]

3. Troy Jackson was an anti-abortion

Hardliner as recently as the Obama Administration. Voted against same sex marriage then too.

Worth mentioning.

[malaise]

4. Add that ICE execution to her list

of problems
https://www.kcra.com/article/biddeford-ice-shooting/71927383

[Quiet Em]

6. She absolutely should be hammered on that

However, abortion is legal and protected in Maine. There is a Republican creep running for Governor against Hannah Pingree who would like to change that. It should definitely be a focus in that race, but Collins will need to be hammered on more than just abortion.

[malaise]

10. In her name

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1322121462

[Quiet Em]

11. Yes. Collins needs to be hammered on this.

[malaise]

13. "Vote Her Out": After Maine ICE Shooting, Sen. Collins Under Fire for Deciding Vote on ICE Funding

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/14/maine_susan_collins

The killing of 26-year-old Colombian immigrant Joan Sebastian Guerrero by ICE agents in Biddeford, Maine, has put the sparsely populated state back in the national spotlight amid the ongoing fallout from a sexual assault allegation that led insurgent Democratic nominee Graham Platner to suspend his campaign for Senate. The nomination will now be determined by Maine Democratic Party delegates in an accelerated — and more crowded — version of the race’s contentious primary. Platner had been running to unseat longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins, a supporter of Donald Trump and his administration’s intensifying immigration enforcement policies. Protesters chanting “Vote her out!” marched to Collins’s office after Guerrero’s shooting was made public. Collins was the deciding vote to approve an additional $70 billion in federal funding for ICE last month. “Voters all across Maine, they don’t think there is a way to reform this agency. They think it needs to be abolished,” says Nathan Bernard, a

[Omaha Steve]

9. Donate to the ME-Sen 2026 Democratic Nominee with our DU link

Democratic Underground for ME-Sen 2026 Democratic Nominee Fund: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/duformesenate26/

[Raven123]

20. Is this the main issue for Maine voters? If so, go for it

Keep us updated.

[BidenRocks]

22. How does she feel about the Equal Rights Amendment?

So she doesn't believe a woman should be in control of her body and life.
Susan Collins: A woman against women!
VOTE!