Sen. Susan Collins officially secured the Republican nomination for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday after running unopposed in the GOP primary, setting the stage for a high-stakes general election battle that could help determine control of the Senate.
Collins, 73, is seeking a sixth term and will face Democratic nominee Graham Platner, a military veteran and oyster farmer who has received backing from left-wing figures such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) despite having a Nazi-themed tattoo and making disparaging remarks about women who have been raped.
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Collins argued that Maine voters will ultimately view Platner’s agenda as out of step with the state’s political center.
The contest is among the most closely watched Senate races in the country as Democrats seek to erase the GOP’s narrow majority.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) has made defeating Collins a top priority, underscoring the importance both parties place on the seat as they battle for control of the chamber.
In her interview with Fox News Digital, Collins was blunt about where the most political heat is coming from.
“I have been the No. 1 target of Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, not only in this campaign, but the last two campaigns as well. I’m always his No. 1 target,” she said.
That argument carries added credibility given Collins’ performance in 2020.
Despite trailing Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, then the speaker of the Maine House, in many polls and facing an avalanche of outside spending, Collins ultimately won re-election by nearly 9 percentage points.
Democrats, led by Schumer and his well-funded political operation, invested heavily in the race only to suffer a decisive defeat.
This cycle, Schumer faces a more complicated political environment.
Senate Democrats have experienced growing internal divisions, with members of the caucus breaking ranks on key votes and progressive activists increasingly voicing frustration with party leadership.
Those tensions could make it more difficult for Democrats to present a unified front as they once again target Collins in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate contests.
Collins, for her part, expressed confidence in her reelection but not complacency.
“I believe that will be the conclusion of Maine voters. But, obviously, I don’t take anything for granted,” she said.
In a victory speech late on Tuesday night, Platner claimed that many of the allegations against him were “manufactured,” a tell to many that he’s already trying to run away from his scandal-plagued past.
He said that members of the political establishment “keep looking for that one story, that one headline, that one moment in my life that they can define the campaign by.”
He added, “In trying so hard to understand me, they failed to understand that this is not about me at all. This is a movement about us, about the far too many, working far too hard and struggling far too much.”
Platner also went after Collins and hinted that he supported Democrats’ plans to pack the U.S. Supreme Court with liberal justices.
He said Collins has failed to protect abortion rights.
“If you are an independent voice, why do you vote with Donald Trump 95 percent of the time?” he said, addressing his opponent directly.
“If you’re so bipartisan, why are you the deciding vote to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court?” Platner added.
Platner hopes to unseat the longtime Republican senator with the help of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California.
The race is one of a few that could decide whether the GOP maintains its narrow Senate majority in the midterm elections.
Among his many far-left policy stances, Platner, on his campaign website, urges “passing a constitutional amendment to ban billionaires buying elections!”