PORTLAND, Maine — In 2016 and 2020, Sen. Susan Collins didn’t vote for Donald Trump for president, and she won’t vote for him again this time because she is writing in Nikki Haley.
Collins, a moderate Republican senator from Maine for a long time, told reporters on Friday that she planned to write the former governor’s name into the ballot in November. This makes me think of 2016, when Collins said she wrote in Paul Ryan, who was House Speaker at the time, instead of Trump for president.
Collins is the only Republican from New England in Congress. He is also the only Republican in Maine, where Trump has won two electoral votes. That was Friday, and she said she is still supporting Haley even though she won’t be on the ticket.
“I backed Nikki Haley in public and wanted her to win.” Still, I like her best, and I believe she could do a great job. Collins told WMTW-TV, “She’s my choice, and that’s how I’m going to say it.”
Collins talked about the election at a ceremony in Limerick, which is about 34 miles west of Portland. She was there to cut the ribbon on a new fire and EMS station. Apple Clark, Collins’s spokeswoman, said after the event that Collins has made it clear many times that she is not going to vote for Trump and that she has supported Haley before, including on TV in June.
Collins said on Spectrum News that she “does not support the Democratic nominee either” and that she “backs some of President Trump’s policies.” But she also said, “I think a lot of it is President Trump’s style as well. I think it’s divisive at a time when our country is already so divided.”
Collins was also one of seven Republicans who voted in favor of impeachment and found Trump guilty of stirring up a rebellion after his followers broke into the U.S. Capitol.
Collins was chosen to serve in the Senate in 1996. She has been a Republican senator the longest and is often a key vote. She is also known for never missing a vote.
Collins is not running for office again in 2024. She was last re-elected in 2020, beating Democratic rival Sara Gideon by a larger margin than many people thought she would.
Due to the way Maine divides its electoral votes, Trump has lost the state vote twice but won one electoral vote. This is because Maine is one of only two states that does this. A lot of people in rural Maine, which is mostly the 2nd Congressional District, support Trump.
