WASHINGTON _ Sen. Susan Collins may be absent from this week's Republican National Convention, but she supports President Donald Trump, according to the head of Maine's Republican Party.
Maine GOP Chairwoman Demi Kouzounas _ when asked on a call arranged by a Trump campaign committee about Collins' absence from the convention _ said Monday that Collins supports Trump.
"They're not mutually exclusive. I think they both have their jobs to do. They both support each other," Kouzounas said on a Trump Victory call with reporters.
Representatives for Collins, a Maine Republican who is one of the most vulnerable senators running this year, did not respond to requests for comment. But the campaign of her Democratic opponent, state House Speaker Sara Gideon, did.
"Despite her refusal to tell Mainers who she's voting for, Senator Collins has made her opinion on Donald Trump clear," Maeve Coyle, a spokeswoman for Gideon, said in an email to CQ Roll Call.
Collins, who was elected to the Senate in 1996, has not taken a stance on whom she plans to back for president. She opposed Trump in 2016 when she wasn't up for reelection. "I didn't have my own race to worry about at that point," she told reporters in July.
Gideon voted for, and endorsed, former Vice President Joe Biden in the Maine presidential primary back in March.
The Maine Democratic Party seized on the comments by Kouzounas.
"Senator Collins may be able to skip her party's convention, but she can't escape her record of having voted with Trump 94% of the time," said Kathleen Marra, the state Democratic Party chairwoman. "With even the head of her party confirming that she supports Trump, Maine voters can see through this flimsy facade, and they're ready to replace both Collins and Trump this November."
Marra was citing data for Collins' votes in 2017 and 2018. CQ Vote Watch data for 471 votes where Trump's position was clear since he took office showed Collins' bucked the president 48 times for a presidential unity score of nearly 90%.
But the average for Senate Republicans was 97%, and only Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky had a lower presidential unity score than Collins in the Senate GOP during that time. Paul, who is not on the ballot this year, is speaking at the convention Tuesday night.
Collins cast a key vote in 2018 to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh's confirmation process was rocked by an allegation of sexual assault dating to his time in high school. His placement on the highest court is often touted by Trump as one of his biggest accomplishments in office.
Collins had $5.5 million cash on hand to Gideon's $5.4 million as of June 30, according to Federal Election Commission records. Overall, Gideon has raised $24.2 million compared to Collins' $16.8 million, but Gideon also received a transfer of more than $3.7 million after securing the nomination. That money was donated in 2018 by people outraged by the Kavanaugh vote who wanted it to go to Collins' opponent this year.
The GOP convention and Collins' views on Trump aren't the only thing on her campaign's agenda this week. The campaign also is pushing back against a pair of ads from outside groups criticizing her past work to overhaul the Postal Service in 2006.
One ad is from a group called Duty and Honor, while super PAC Senate Majority PAC launched the other spot.
Her campaign issued a lengthy news release Tuesday calling the vulnerable incumbent "a longtime champion for the Postal Service and its workers" and noting that the 14-year-old law at issue passed with bipartisan support including from Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York and the current House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California.
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzalez rates the race as a toss-up.
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