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2026 Maine Senate
Bob Dylan
Collins’s Kavanaugh Vote Drives Senate Fight
Coverage from Daily Kos, WAVY.com, and others
Troy Jackson and allied abortion-rights groups are making Susan Collins’s 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh a central campaign attack, linking it to the Supreme Court’s later decision to overturn Roe v.
Wade. Planned Parenthood Votes and Reproductive Freedom for All have committed substantial advertising and direct-mail resources against Collins, while Collins maintains that she supports abortion access and does not regret the Kavanaugh vote. The fight gives Jackson a way to challenge Collins with abortion-rights voters while forcing the incumbent to defend a position that combines support for abortion access with support for key conservative judicial nominees.
If you read one thing
It clearly frames abortion as the central candidate contrast while showing how both campaigns are using the issue.
The counter-case
It presents the strongest available case that the Kavanaugh attack may reinforce existing opposition more than expand Collins’s detractors.
The evidence
It documents the coordinated $250,000 direct-mail effort targeting more than 100,000 Maine households.
The evidence
It adds voter-level context by showing abortion concerns among older women alongside competing economic and health-care priorities.
Coordinated abortion-focused spending
Abortion-rights groups are sustaining a coordinated campaign against Susan Collins, combining more than $600,000 in advertising with a reported $250,000 direct-mail effort aimed at more than 100,000 Maine households. The spending keeps reproductive rights and Collins's judicial record as a major organized line of attack.
Kavanaugh vote as a central liability
Jackson and allied groups continue to link Collins's 2018 Kavanaugh vote to the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade. The message resonates with some older women and former Collins supporters, although available evidence suggests it may reinforce existing opposition more than generate broad new defections.
Abortion as the defining candidate contrast
Jackson is using Collins's confirmation votes to challenge her moderate pro-choice identity, while Collins counters with her opposition to Dobbs, support for abortion access, judicial record, and attacks on Jackson's earlier anti-abortion positions. The issue remains central to the candidate contrast but contested rather than one-sided.
$250,000 USD
direct-mail campaign spending
“Reproductive Freedom for All launched a $250,000 direct-mail campaign targeting women who support reproductive freedom.”
more than $600,000 USD
advertising spending
“Planned Parenthood’s advocacy arm is spending more than $600,000 on advertisements linking Collins to the end of abortion rights.”
$23.5 million USD
Reproductive Freedom for All's My Body. My Ballot campaign
“The effort is part of Reproductive Freedom for All’s $23.5 million “My Body. My Ballot” campaign and comes as Collins faces Maine voters for the first time since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion.”
more than 100,000 households
targeted Maine households
“Reproductive Freedom for All and the Democrat-aligned Senate Majority PAC launched a $250,000 direct-mail campaign targeting more than 100,000 Maine households, focusing on women who support abortion rights.”
more than 100,000 Maine households
direct-mail reach
“Reproductive Freedom for All and Senate Majority PAC are launching a direct-mail campaign Sept. 1 that will reach more than 100,000 Maine households, Axios reported.”
Contested Issue
Will abortion-focused attacks on Susan Collins over her Kavanaugh vote materially expand opposition to her, or mainly reinforce voters who already oppose her?
The evidence differs on the electoral effect of the abortion issue. Interviews and polling commentary describe the Kavanaugh vote and abortion rights as contributing to defections among some former Collins supporters, particularly older women. A Maine political scientist instead argues that the issue is more likely to reinforce existing opponents than generate substantial new opposition, while other reporting says economic and health-care concerns compete with abortion among older voters.
Meaningful voter erosion
The Kavanaugh and post-Dobbs abortion issue has materially weakened Collins among some former supporters and can help move older women toward Troy Jackson.
Limited incremental effect
The abortion attack is strategically logical in pro-choice Maine but is more likely to reaffirm existing Collins opponents than generate substantial new opposition.
The new articles reinforce the existing Kavanaugh-based abortion attack and its potential appeal among older Maine women but do not establish a material change in the contest.
Previously
Troy Jackson and allied abortion-rights groups are making Susan Collins’s 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh a central campaign attack, linking it to the Supreme Court’s later decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Planned Parenthood Votes and Reproductive Freedom for All have committed substantial advertising and direct-mail resources against Collins, while Collins maintains that she supports abortion access and does not regret the Kavanaugh vote. The fight gives Jackson a way to challenge Collins with abortion-rights voters while forcing the incumbent to defend a position that combines support for abortion access with support for key conservative judicial nominees.
The current version largely confirms the existing story, with slightly greater emphasis on Collins’s Kavanaugh vote and Jackson’s challenge among abortion-rights voters. No material new event, actor, or claim is introduced.
The attack has broadened from Collins’s Kavanaugh vote to include her Gorsuch confirmation, while reproductive-rights endorsements further align Jackson’s campaign with the issue.