Armenian-American Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon Is Officially Running For Susan Collins’ Senate Seat

The 47-year-old mother of three has focused her legislative tenure on boosting the state’s economy, tackling the opioid crisis, investing in sustainable energy and increasing access to universal health care.

In the last few weeks of Maine’s first regular legislative session of 2019, Gideon oversaw the passage of several progressive bills, including automatic voter registration and expanding abortion access for women across the state.

Her anti-poverty legislation to address the state’s “benefits cliff” and provide training for adults to qualify for higher-paying jobs received unanimous support in the state’s House and Senate on Tuesday. The bill is awaiting Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ signature.

Defeating Collins, the Maine moderate who infuriated liberals with her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, is key to Democratic hopes of winning back control of the Senate in 2020.

“Susan Collins has been in the Senate for 22 years and at one point maybe she was different than some of the other folks in Washington,” Gideon said in her campaign video. “But she doesn’t seem that way anymore.”

Collins’ support for Kavanaugh despite the multiple sexual misconduct allegations raised against him from the 1980s drew outrage from Democrats and abortion rights activists. Gideon hinted at a potential run in October following the vote.