WASHINGTON (New York Times) — Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, on Tuesday, July 14, formally became the Democratic nominee to challenge Senator Susan Collins of Maine, wielding a formidable war chest in a race that could determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate in November.
Gideon, who is half Indian and half Armenian, is backed by the Senate Democratic campaign arm and a number of outside political groups. She had long been the favorite to challenge Ms. Collins, the sole remaining New England Republican in Congress. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the race a tossup, and the election has already become the most expensive in Maine history.
“This campaign is about all of us, and about how we can build a stronger future together,”, Senator Collins has become part of that broken system, putting special interests and her political party first, and Mainers know it and feel it.”
“Senator Collins has changed, and Mainers deserve better,” Gideon added. “Mainers deserve a senator who will bring people together to overcome the challenges we face.”
While Collins coasted to a fourth term in 2014 with 69 percent of the vote, her reputation for independence and bipartisanship has suffered under the Trump administration, and her approval ratings have plummeted at home. Though she has split with President Trump on a number of issues, she faced a significant backlash after supporting the $1.5 trillion tax-cut package in 2017 and voting to confirm Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018.
Millions of dollars have flooded the race and the airwaves in Maine, with Ms. Gideon raising $23 million from both voters in Maine and national Democratic donors eager to flip the seat and secure control of the Senate.
