Federal prosecutors are investigating what they call a massive scheme to illegally finance Sen. Susan Collins’ 2020 reelection bid, Axios reports.
“A recently unsealed search warrant application shows the FBI believes an executive with a Hawaii defense contractor illegally funneled $150,000 to a pro-Collins super PAC and reimbursed family members’ donations to Collins’ campaign.”
Sara Gideon (D), who lost her challenge to Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) last November, still had $11.5 million in her campaign account on March 31, according to FEC filings.
“The Maine Republican Party could vote by month’s end to censure Sen. Susan Collins over her Saturday vote to convict former President Donald Trump of a Democratic impeachment charge, a move that infuriated many in the conservative grassroots,” the Bangor Daily News reports.
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“If Republicans are able to hold onto their majority in the U.S. Senate, the remarkable staying power of Susan Collins will be a big reason why,” the AP reports.
“Collins defied prognostications of doom from Washington’s consultant class to score perhaps the most unexpected victory of the 2020 cycle, hanging a lopsided loss on a Democratic challenger despite a pile of outside Democratic money and open hostility from the leader of her party, President Trump.”
“Revitalized and empowered, Collins now has the chance to wield her influence over a Senate where the sweet spot for President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda will be found somewhere in the moderate middle — the political space she’s happily called home for decades.”
Politico: Susan Collins reaches peak influence after Senate stunner.
Sen. Susan Collins said her Democratic opponent, Sara Gideon, called her to concede in the Maine Senate race, Politico reports.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who is locked in a close reelection race with Sara Gideon (D), warned to Hugh Hewitt that it could take a week to determine who won Maine’s U.S. Senate race.
Said Collins: “If neither of us gets 50 percent of the vote, then we get into the rather odd ranked choice voting… We probably would not know for certain who won for another week.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told the New York Times that she briefly considered running for reelection as an independent but ultimately decided to stick with her party because of loyalty to “the New England brand of Republicanism.”
President Trump slammed Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) this morning:
“There is a nasty rumor out there that Senator Collins of Maine will not be supporting our great United States Supreme Court Nominee. Well, she didn’t support Healthcare or my opening up 5000 square miles of Ocean to Maine, so why should this be any different. Not worth the work!”
Of course, the “nasty rumor” is actually Collins’ statement from last month saying she would not vote to confirm a nominee before the election.
A new Pan Atlantic Research poll in Maine finds Sara Gideon (D) leading Sen. Susan Collins (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 40%.
Meanwhile, Playbook nots Collins raised $8.3 million last quarter while Gideon raised $39.4 million.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) went after Sara Gideon (D) in a Politico interview and accused the State House speaker of “defaming my reputation and attacking my integrity.”
Said Collins: “She will say or do anything to try to win. This race is built on a foundation of falsehoods. And trying to convince the people of Maine that somehow I am no longer the same person.”
A new Bangor Daily News-Digital Research poll in Maine finds Sara Gideon (D) edging Sen. Susan Collins (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 44% to 43%.
A new Colby College poll in Maine finds Sara Gideon (D) leading Sen. Susan Collins (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 45% to 41%.
A new Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll in Maine finds Sara Gideon (D) leading Sen. Susan Collins (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 46% to 41%.
Also important: “Gideon’s narrow polling lead could be even stronger when Maine’s ranked-choice voting system is taken into account… Among the very small sample of respondents not planning to pick one of the major-party contenders as their top choice, Gideon is much more popular than Collins as a second-choice vote.”
In the presidential race, Joe Biden leads Donald Trump, 51% to 39%
Earlier: Trump slams Susan Collins.
A new Citizen Data poll in Maine finds Sarah Gideon (D) leading Sen. Susan Collins (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 41%.
Former Sen. Joe Lieberman endorsed Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in a new ad.
Said Lieberman: “I’m a lifelong Democrat but I put my country first, always. That’s why I’m supporting Susan Collins for Senate.”
Of course, Lieberman was a Democrat who turned independent.
Former President George W. Bush backed Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in his first public endorsement of the 2020 election cycle, the AP reports.
“Bush has largely stayed out of the political fray since he left the White House in 2009, and his endorsement is a welcome boost for Collins, who is waging her most difficult campaign yet as she seeks a fifth term.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said that “efforts by the U.S. Postal Service to cut costs could backfire amid reported mail delays in Maine and across the country and reiterated support to increase funding to the embattled agency,” the Bangor Daily News reports.
A new RMG Group survey in Maine finds Sarah Gideon (D) leading Sen. Susan Collins (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 41%.
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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.