Centrist Independent Voter (CIVPAC) endorses Senator Susan Collins for re-election to the United States Senate from Maine.
This is not an endorsement without reservations. Collins has too often supported President Trump and the Republican Party when stronger independence would have been welcome. Her reputation for moderation sometimes exceeds her willingness to break with her party.
But endorsements must reflect both the candidates actually running and the political environment in which the choice is being made. In this race, Collins is the better choice.
The Choice in Maine
Her Democratic opponent, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, deserves to be taken seriously. Jackson has substantial legislative experience, and we agree with his support for continued assistance to Ukraine. But he has also embraced much of the Democratic Party’s populist left agenda, including Medicare for All, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), eliminating the Senate filibuster and reforming the Supreme Court. Those positions move well beyond the pragmatic reforms CIVPAC favors. (Reuters)
CIVPAC supports government subsidies for health insurance, but our health-care policy relies on competing private plans rather than replacing private coverage with Medicare for All. Our immigration position combines effective border enforcement with legal residency for established undocumented immigrants and expanded legal immigration. ICE may require substantial reform, but abolishing the principal federal immigration-enforcement agency without a clearly defined replacement is not, by itself, an immigration policy.
The Case for Collins
The case for Collins is stronger than it was only a few months ago because her independence from Trump has recently become more than a matter of reputation.
In August, Collins opposed Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general, saying that the Department of Justice had become increasingly political and that Blanche had further eroded its independence. She followed through: Collins and Lisa Murkowski were the only Republican senators to vote against Blanche, who was confirmed 50â49. (Collins statement) (U.S. Senate)
That matters greatly to CIVPAC. An attorney general should serve the Constitution and the law, not function as the president’s personal attorney.
Collins has challenged the administration in other significant areas as well. She voted to end continuing military operations against Iran after the War Powers Act deadline, arguing that further action required a clear mission, achievable goals and a defined strategy. (Collins statement) She has repeatedly pushed back against Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods, including new 50-percent tariffs affecting products important to Maine businesses, consistent with CIVPAC’s trade policy. (Collins statement) Following a fatal ICE shooting in Maine, she urged the administration to halt non-urgent ICE vehicle stops while the incident was investigated and criticized ICE’s performance. (Collins statement)
Her independence is not new. Collins was one of only seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump following the January 6 attack on the Capitol. (U.S. Senate) But her recent actions demonstrate that she remains willing to oppose a Republican president while actively seeking re-election.
If this proves to be Collins’s final campaign, there is reason to hope that a final term would leave her even less constrained by the threat of a future Republican primary challenge. Her recent conduct suggests that greater independence is more than a theoretical possibility.
On foreign policy, Collins has a long record broadly consistent with CIVPAC’s view of America’s role in the world. She has been a consistent supporter of Ukraine’s resistance to Russia and was an original cosponsor of bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation approved overwhelmingly by the Senate in August. She described the legislation as important to the security of the United States and its allies and praised Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression. (Collins statement)
The Senate needs members of both parties who are willing to tell presidents of their own party no. Collins has demonstrated that capacity again during the current Trump administration.
The Limits of Independence
There is, however, a harder institutional argument against this endorsement. Collins’s individual independence does not erase the consequences of her support for Republican control of the Senate.
Party control determines the division of committee seats, and the majority party traditionally controls committee chairmanships. The majority leader also has substantial power over the Senate’s floor agenda.
Even if Collins opposed President Trump on every consequential matter that came before her, her Republican affiliation could still help place other senators in positions from which they can advance his nominees and legislation, direct investigations and oversight, and defend actions Collins herself might oppose.
And one independent vote can simply be overwhelmed. The Blanche confirmation illustrates the problem: Collins and Murkowski voted no, but Blanche was confirmed 50â49 anyway.
That is an important part of the case against Collins. Party affiliation in a closely divided Senate is not merely a label. It helps determine who exercises institutional power.
Can Independence Go Further?
Collins is also nearly the last Republican standing from a remarkable moment of independence. Seven Republican senators voted to convict Trump after January 6. Only Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Bill Cassidy remain in the Senate today, and Cassidy has already lost his Republican primary after Trump backed an opponent and celebrated his defeat. (Reuters)
That history raises a larger question. Collins has remained loyal to a Republican Party increasingly being suffocated by demands for sycophantic loyalty to one man. Perhaps at some point preserving the Republican tradition she representsâconstitutional government, internationalism, fiscal restraint, respect for institutions and a willingness to compromiseâwill require greater independence from the party that now bears its name.
Maine already sends an Independent, Angus King, to the Senate. And there is a striking historical precedent. In 2001, Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party and became an Independent. With the Senate divided 50â50, Jeffords chose to caucus with the Democrats, shifting control of the chamber. (U.S. Senate)
We are not suggesting that Collins become a Democrat or even caucus with them. Independence from the Republican caucus need not mean empowering the Democratic Party. In a closely divided Senateâparticularly one that may include other genuinely independent senatorsâher willingness to put institutional responsibility ahead of party loyalty could become extraordinarily consequential.
Perhaps the Republican Party ultimately needs members willing to contemplate leaving it in order to save it from becoming a party in which loyalty to its leader overwhelms loyalty to its principles.
The particular scenario is speculative. The underlying principle is not: a senator’s value as an independent voice depends not merely on how she votes, but on whether that independence can matter institutionally.
Why We Endorse Collins
Jackson is a serious candidate. He supports Ukraine, and his concerns about abuses in immigration enforcement deserve serious consideration. But his broader economic and institutional agenda moves significantly farther left than CIVPAC supports.
There will be races in 2026 in which a MAGA Republican faces a candidate so far to the left that CIVPAC has no reasonable path to an endorsement. This is not such a race. Collins’s record gives centrist independent voters something affirmative to support, even while giving them substantial reasons for concern.
But let’s be perfectly clear. If the Democrats had nominated a candidate with the independence and temperament of Senator Angus King, Maine’s other senator, this endorsement would have gone the other way. Similarly, if Donald Trump had not upended the Republican Party, we would have had little difficulty endorsing Susan Collins.
In the end, we believe that Collins’s demonstrated willingness to exercise courageous independence outweighs our reservations about the potential institutional consequences of electing another Republican senator, particularly given the alternative the Democratic Party has presented to Maine voters.
Centrist Independent Voter endorses Susan Collins for re-election to the United States Senate.
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