The Women of Maine vs. Susan Collins
The senior senator faces an especially difficult reelection challenge. Did she change or did her voters?
ALFRED, Maine—Earlier this spring, Heidi Sampson, a Maine state representative, and I were both rushing between town meetings, that iconic form of New England government for which communities assemble to vote on hundreds of issues ranging from Independence Day fireworks to costly infrastructure projects.
Sampson, a registered Republican who thinks of herself as a conservative libertarian, told me I could expect to hear her constituents, many of whom are elderly, press her on VA benefits and Medicare coverage and access to libraries and food pantries—increasingly common concerns in a state with a poverty rate of 12 percent. But during breaks for bean suppers and chats in Grange Hall parking lots, what I kept hearing were informal referendums on the job performance of Susan Collins, Maine’s senior senator.
Sampson, who is a longtime supporter of Collins, said she wasn’t surprised. “I get phone calls from upset people. I get emails from people. Constituents will come right up and complain about Susan to my face,” she told me. “People get really emotional.”
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https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/05/07/women-maine-susan-collins-135970
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