Pro-choice group launches $250,000 ad campaign targeting Susan Collins
Abortion rights organizations are launching a $250,000 campaign targeting Senator Susan Collins of Maine as the state’s Senate race approaches its final stages. This campaign emphasizes her 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which is now controversial following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The campaign, part of the broader “My Body. My Ballot” initiative, aims to influence women who support reproductive rights and criticizes Collins for breaking promises to protect such freedoms and for her votes to confirm numerous Trump-appointed judges. Collins, a moderate Republican, has supported abortion rights up to fetal viability but opposes later abortions unless necessary for the mother’s health. Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, has shifted from conservative views to support expanded abortion access and is endorsed by reproductive rights groups. The race is being closely watched,with democrats hoping to flip the seat,especially as Maine voters lean Democratic in recent elections. Planned Parenthood is investing heavily in ads against Collins, and her voting record on judges and abortion has made her a prime target for pro-choice advocates.
An abortion rights group is launching a $250,000 campaign targeting Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) as the race for Maine’s Senate seat enters its final stretch, putting her 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh back in the spotlight.
The November election will be the first time Collins faces Maine voters since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Reproductive Freedom for All and the Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC are launching a $250,000 direct-mail campaign Tuesday that will reach more than 100,000 Maine households, according to details first reported by Axios.
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The mailers will target women who support abortion rights and accuse Collins of breaking her promise to protect reproductive freedom by voting for Kavanaugh. They also highlight her votes to confirm more than 100 judges appointed by President Donald Trump.
The effort is part of Reproductive Freedom for All’s $23.5 million “My Body. My Ballot” campaign. The group endorsed Democratic nominee Troy Jackson last week and has made Collins’s vote confirming Kavanaugh’s nomination a central issue in the race.
Collins has defended her 2018 vote, saying in June, “I do not regret that vote,” while adding that she disagrees with Kavanaugh’s subsequent rulings.
The Republican senator, who is seeking a sixth term, will face Jackson, a former Maine Senate president.
Democrats are hoping to flip Collins’s seat after then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried Maine with 52.2% of the vote in 2024, compared with Trump’s 45%.
Collins has long maintained a more centrist position on abortion than many Republicans. She has said she supports women having a right to abortion until fetal viability, while opposing later abortions except in cases involving the health of the mother. Her position has put her at odds with much of her party, but her willingness to break with Republicans has helped define her centrist political brand in the traditionally Democratic-leaning state.
Abortion-rights groups have made Collins a major target this cycle. Planned Parenthood Votes announced in August that it would spend more than $600,000 on ads targeting the senator, its largest investment against a single state candidate this election cycle.
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Jackson, meanwhile, has undergone his own evolution on abortion. The former Maine Senate president once held more conservative views, saying that he continued to personally struggle with the issue. However, he co-sponsored legislation in 2023 allowing abortions after fetal viability when deemed necessary in a physician’s professional judgment.
Jackson has since emerged as a strong abortion-rights advocate and earned the backing of Reproductive Freedom for All, which has highlighted his support for expanding abortion access.
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