Senator Susan Collins has delivered millions of dollars to every corner of Maine over nearly 30 years, cultivating a public image as a workhorse focused on constituent services and pork-barrel spending. But according to more than 40 interviews with Republicans and Democrats in Maine politics, former staff, colleagues and longtime observers, she has also wielded power as a shrewd machine politician.
Jordan Wood, a Democrat from Lewiston, became the first person to announce a 2026 challenge to Collins. He sought the endorsement of Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline, a fellow Democrat, but Sheline declined to back him. Sheline cited, among other reasons, a housing project, a food distribution center and a mill museum in Lewiston, all of which Collins had helped finance. Wood described the atmosphere as one of possible retribution, saying, "It is that fear she instills."
Amy Fried, a retired University of Maine political scientist, compared Collins's approach to Tammany Hall: "You're going to get this benefit here if you vote for me." Lance Dutson, a Republican strategist and former Collins aide, did not disagree, saying voting against her is effectively a vote against one's own well-being.
Collins's staff counters that she has brought funding to communities regardless of how they vote. Her office cited $234 million for 96 projects in Cumberland and Knox counties, the only two she lost in 2020, and $51.2 million for 28 projects in Portland, where she received just 21 percent of the vote. Collins, 73 and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is running this fall with small-town stops rather than flashy rallies.
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