PRESS RELEASE
NEW: Voters Are Tired Of Susan Collins’ Broken Economy Making It Harder For Mainers To Get By
MAINE, USA — New reporting from the New York Times reveals Maine independent voters’ frustration with rising costs and worsening conditions under Susan Collins and Donald Trump’s leadership, making it harder and harder for everyday Mainers to get by.
The voters recall how life has changed during Collins’ 30 years in the U.S. Senate, and express their excitement for change. Voters like Andrew McRichards and Joe Reid point to Jackson’s commitment to protecting expanding health care access as their motivation to hit the polls in November, and are frustrated by Collins who enabled Trump's $1 trillion cuts to Medicaid.
Others, like Hannah Reid, cite Troy’s dedication to ending the rogue ICE agency that has terrorized Mainers — the same department that Susan Collins has voted to give $70 billion without guardrails, leading to the murder of Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford earlier this year.
Watch the full video here, or see below for the highlights:
New York Times: In Maine, Swing Voters May Hold Key to Victory
Narrator: We're in Kennebec County in Maine. It's a swing county in one of a handful of races that could determine the control of Congress. Republican Susan Collins is a five-term senator locked in a tight race against Democrat Troy Jackson, a former state legislator.
Narrator: About a third of Maine's voters are independents who, along with moderates, have been crucial to electing Collins in the past. But voters' growing frustration with the economy and Collins's voting record could be a turning point this year. [...]
Jon Reid: I'm not going to vote for Susan Collins this year. [...]
Hannah Reid: I'm going to be voting for Troy because I don't think Susan Collins is going to be helping us. [...]
Andrew McRichards: I would be voting for somebody who puts health care kind of front and center.
Troy Jackson [embedded]: If you believe in your heart that health care is a right, stand with us.
Joe Reid: Colin's platform this year is that she gave all this money to hospitals. [...] Totally opposite of what's in your face. Hospitals are closing down. Critical care units are closing down. Returning units are closing down. [...]
Narrator: The race has also exposed the candidate's stark divide on immigration after an ICE agent shot and killed a Colombian man at a traffic stop here in July. [...] [Collins] has repeatedly voted to fund ICE, while Jackson has called for the agency to be dismantled.
Troy Jackson [embedded]: We're going to do something to get rid of ICE.
Hannah Reid: They're murdering people out on the streets. [...]
Joe Reid: They can do anything they want and not be held accountable, and that is scary.
Narrator: If Maine swings blue, it will be the first time in 32 years the state has a Democratic senator. Early polls show Jackson leading by a thin margin, but he will need to pick up as many independent voters as possible to secure a victory.
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