Kavanaugh Vote Haunts Collins in First Senate Race Since Roe's Fall

For years, Erin Evans cast her ballot for Susan Collins, trusting that Planned Parenthood's endorsement of the moderate Republican meant her abortion rights were safe. Now the 56-year-old from Portland says she feels betrayed, pointing to Collins' decisive 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court — a justice who later helped dismantle the constitutional right to abortion.

"I was a really uninformed voter," Evans said. "I thought any woman from Maine was probably in line with me."

Evans now supports Democrat Troy Jackson, a former state lawmaker and logger, in his bid to deny Collins a sixth term. The November election marks the first time Collins has appeared on the ballot since the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that ended Roe v. Wade and triggered abortion bans across much of the country.

Democrats have made Maine a priority in their push to reclaim the Senate, and both candidates are courting women, who form the majority of the state's population and vote at slightly higher rates than men. Campaign advertisements from both sides prominently feature female voters.

Democratic messaging has centered on Collins' Kavanaugh vote, casting her as yielding to President Donald Trump. The advocacy group Affordable Maine has spent nearly $10 million on ads highlighting her support for other Trump-appointed judges opposed to abortion, while the Win Senate political action committee has spent $32 million. Planned Parenthood Votes has put at least $500,000 behind ads featuring a woman who regrets her Collins vote.

Yet Collins enters the race with significant advantages. She has won elections for three decades even as Maine voters rejected Republican presidential nominees, including Trump, since 1988. A September New York Times/Siena poll found that when likely Maine voters were asked to name the most important issue deciding their congressional vote, almost none mentioned abortion.

Collins has long described herself as a "pro-choice" Republican. She was among the few Republicans endorsed by Planned Parenthood earlier in her career and co-sponsored federal abortion protections in 2022. In 2020, 76% of Maine Senate voters said the Supreme Court should not overturn Roe, including most of Collins' own supporters.

Her 2018 Kavanaugh vote proved pivotal. After months of deliberation and a 45-minute floor speech, she helped confirm him 50-48. Collins said Kavanaugh had told her in a private meeting that he considered Roe settled law. She criticized the 2022 ruling but has never wavered on the confirmation, telling reporters in June, "I do not regret that vote."

For voters like Bente Lundh, 67, of Falmouth, that vote overshadows Collins' moderate image. "She's positioned herself as this moderate voter, but she's really chopped that down with her vote for Kavanaugh," Lundh said.

Others remain loyal. Mary Ann Lynch, a Democrat backing Collins, noted that the senator also voted to confirm Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, who dissented in the abortion ruling. "Neither party, in my view, has a monopoly on the truth," Lynch said.

Jackson, who launched his campaign in July, has announced a "Women for Troy" coalition spanning all 16 Maine counties and won endorsements from Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All. He says he helped pass some of the nation's strongest abortion protections while serving as a top state senator.

But Jackson became a last-minute nominee after Graham Platner dropped out this summer amid criticism of past relationships with women and a sexual assault allegation that Platner denies. Jackson, who lost a gubernatorial primary bid after campaigning alongside Platner, must now win over voters wary of that connection. He has also had to explain his past opposition to abortion rights and same-sex marriage, saying he changed his views after speaking with women. His spokesperson, Maggie Amjad, said Jackson now holds a "100% rating from Maine's Planned Parenthood."

Collins spokesperson Blake Kernen called the senator the only "reliably pro-choice" candidate in the race.

Abortion may prove less potent an issue in Maine than elsewhere. The Democratic-controlled Legislature in 2023 passed a law permitting abortions at any time when a doctor deems them medically necessary, and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has signed legislation shielding providers of abortion and gender-affirming care from out-of-state legal action. Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine, noted that unlike states where clinics have shuttered, Maine has not seen the same disruption.

A CNN/SSRS survey of likely Maine voters in late August and early September found that while most remain unhappy with the overturning of Roe, that anger could be outweighed by broader economic concerns.