Vulnerable Republican senators have voted in near-total lockstep with President Donald Trump since his 2025 return to office. Five of the six most vulnerable GOP senators have not cast a single vote against Trump's positions. The sole exception is Maine Senator Susan Collins, who aligned with Trump 92% of the time. Collins faces a toss-up reelection campaign against Democrat Troy Jackson, with voters in swing-prone Aroostook County expressing deep concern over rising gas and heating oil prices.
Other Republican senators' support for Donald Trump
- ▪Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska has supported Donald Trump's positions 98 percent of the time over Trump's entire tenure in office.
- ▪Five of the six most vulnerable Republican senators—Jon Husted, Dan Sullivan, Roger Marshall, Pete Ricketts, and Darline Graham—have not cast a single vote opposing Donald Trump during his second term.
Susan Collins' voting record with Donald Trump
- ▪Over Donald Trump's entire tenure in office, including his first term, Senator Susan Collins supported his position 90 percent of the time, opposing him on 76 votes.
- ▪United States Senator Susan Collins of Maine voted in alignment with President Donald Trump's public position 92 percent of the time between the start of Trump's second term in 2025 and September 30, 2026.
- ▪During the first seven months of Donald Trump's second term in 2025, Senator Susan Collins voted with the president's position 96 percent of the time, breaking with him on only three of 137 nomination votes.
- ▪The Democratic campaign of Troy Jackson launched a website asserting that Senator Susan Collins votes with Donald Trump 96 percent of the time, utilizing more than a year-old data from a Bangor Daily News article.
The Maine Senate race
- ▪Democratic challenger Troy Jackson became a late addition to the Maine Senate race after the original Democratic nominee, Graham Platner, dropped out following allegations of rape.
- ▪Voters in Aroostook County, Maine, who supported Barack Obama in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016, are considered key swing voters who could decide the Senate race between Susan Collins and Troy Jackson.
- ▪Senator Susan Collins has won five previous Senate races, with her home county of Aroostook turning out for her by double-digit margins in each election.
- ▪The Maine Senate race between Republican incumbent Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson is statistically a toss-up, according to Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
Matt Schlobohm's political efforts
- ▪Maine AFL-CIO Executive Director Matt Schlobohm stated that Senator Susan Collins' support for the war in Iran has directly increased gas prices and made life harder for working Mainers.
- ▪Maine AFL-CIO Executive Director Matt Schlobohm has campaigned with Troy Jackson for seats in Maine's state House and Senate.
Maine heating oil costs
- ▪Fort Kent Theater owner Brandon Goding estimated his monthly heating oil bill at $1,000, leaving him unsure if he can keep the lights on.
- ▪The price of heating oil in Maine has increased by 74 percent over the last year, according to the Maine Department of Energy Resources.
Debatable claims
- ▪Ticket-splitting remains a viable strategy for moderate candidates in polarized states
- ▪Susan Collins is sufficiently independent of Donald Trump
- ▪Deference to presidential nominees is an appropriate role for the Senate
- ▪Vulnerable Republican senators should vote independently of Donald Trump
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