Takeaways: Trump and abortion rights take center stage in first Maine Senate debate

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GOP Sen. Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, sparred over President Donald Trump and abortion rights in their first debate Tuesday night in Maine’s all-important Senate race with control of the chamber at stake.

Appearing in Portland, the state’s largest city, the two had a spirited — but civil — debate that displayed two very different strategies. Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, touted her “effective leadership” securing federal funds for Maine, while Jackson sought to nationalize the race with persistent criticism of her relationship with Trump and 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who later voted to overturn the federal right to an abortion.

“Would you trust her to pick the next Supreme Court justice?” Jackson asked, days after Justice Samuel Alito told CBS News he’s “thought about” retiring.

Collins repeatedly pitched herself as unusually independent among lawmakers and cast doubt on the notion that Trump would want to visit Maine to stump for her.

“I’m not exactly his favorite senator,” she said.

It was the first of four debates the two candidates are scheduled to do over 10 days.

Collins is a top Democratic target in the midterms, seeking reelection in a state that Trump lost three times. Democrats picked Jackson, the former president of the Maine Senate, to replace Graham Platner as their nominee in July after Platner dropped out over a rape allegation, which he denies.

The race took another turn in recent days after the publication of a ProPublica story alleging a pay-to-play scheme involving Collins’ office. She said at the debate that the allegations were “completely false” and “very offensive.” Jackson said it showed how “politicians are bought and paid for.”

Jackson repeatedly sought to make Trump a liability for Collins, while Collins worked to tie him to the Democratic-led legislature in Augusta. He served in the Maine House – and then Senate – from 2002-2024, and Collins took several opportunities to remind viewers of his long tenure.

Jackson accused Collins multiple times of voting “96% of the time” with Trump and of not doing enough to push back against his tariffs, immigration policies and the war in Iran. Collins detailed how she split with Trump on those issues, like getting tariff exemptions for certain products important to Maine, but Jackson scoffed at her answers.

“Sen. Collins is like an arsonist who set the fire and then she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out,” Jackson said.

At one point, Collins took issue with the methodology of the study that she said Jackson had been citing for the 96% figure. He brushed it off, saying, “Whatever, it’s far too often.”

Collins was far more interested in talking about Augusta than Trump. She argued, for example, that Democratic state lawmakers were responsible for Maine having the “fourth highest electricity rates in the country.”

“If you look at the policies that have driven up the cost of living in Maine, you have to look at Augusta,” Collins said. “Augusta’s failed policies under the failed leadership of Troy Jackson.”

Jackson and his allies made little secret of his strategy going into the debate: Ramp up pressure on Collins, who has long billed herself as supportive of abortion rights, to answer for her Kavanaugh vote. This week is the eight-year anniversary of the vote.

Jackson brought it up within seconds of his opening statement and later seized on the topic when given the chance to pose a question to Collins.

“What will it take for you to admit that you were wrong [on Kavanaugh]?” Jackson asked.

Collins gave a defense of her vote that has become well-rehearsed throughout the race. She said she “clearly” disagreed with his vote to overturn Roe v. Wade but said it would have been “inappropriate” to ask him during the confirmation process how he would vote on a particular issue. She did concede, however, that she did not like that he called Roe v. Wade settled law – because, she said, “to me, that meant that it would not be overturned.”

Notably, Collins sought to flip the issue on Jackson, bringing up a series of anti-abortion positions he took early in his political career that he has since disavowed.

“There’s only one of us on this stage who has aways been pro-choice, and that’s me,” Collins said.

Jackson did not take the bait.

“She doesn’t regret the vote” for Kavanaugh, he said, calling it “incredible that she will not admit to being wrong.”

While Susan Collins has been in the Senate since 1997, Jackson is newer to the national scene, and some Democrats are still getting to know him. Even his supporters acknowledge he is not as strong of a speaker – or personality – as Platner, though they share similar working-class progressive politics.

The often casually clad Jackson wore a suit to the debate, and while he appeared to go after Collins more than she targeted him, he kept his attacks tightly focused on issues around Trump and abortion and did not come across as overzealous. The debate ended on a lighthearted note as the two joked about their favorite football teams.

Jackson is one of the most progressive Democratic nominees in a battleground Senate race this cycle, and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is set to visit Maine this weekend to hold three rallies for him. Like Sanders, Jackson is a proponent of the universal health care program Medicare for All.

Asked about his support for Medicare for All and his thoughts on democratic socialists – the label that Sanders uses — Jackson chose to respond to the former part of the question and not the latter.

“I support Medicare for All so that people I know across the state have health care,” Jackson said, adding that “Republicans, Democrats, independents all across the state” are backing his campaign.

Collins criticized Medicare for All, saying Jackson wants “Big Government to take over the entire health care service.”

They also split sharply during a lightning round of questions where they were asked if voters should show identification to cast a ballot.

“No,” Jackson said. “As a working logger, many times I went to the polls without my ID.”

Collins was just as explicit in the other direction.

“Yes,” she said, “Only Americans should vote in American elections.”

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周二晚，共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯和她的民主党挑战者特洛伊·杰克逊在缅因州至关重要的参议院竞选中展开首场辩论，就唐纳德·特朗普总统和堕胎权问题展开激烈交锋，这场竞选的胜负将决定参议院的控制权。

在缅因州最大的城市波特兰，两人展开了一场激烈但文明的辩论，展现了截然不同的竞选策略。参议院拨款委员会主席柯林斯大力宣传她为缅因州争取联邦资金的“高效领导”，而杰克逊则试图将这场竞选提升到全国范围，不断抨击她与特朗普的关系以及2018年投票确认布雷特·卡瓦诺担任最高法院大法官一事。卡瓦诺后来投票推翻了联邦堕胎权。

“你会信任她来挑选下一任最高法院大法官吗？”杰克逊问道。几天前，塞缪尔·阿利托大法官告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，他“考虑过”退休。

科林斯反复强调自己是立法者中异常独立的，并对特朗普是否会去缅因州为她助选表示怀疑。

“我并不是他最喜欢的参议员，”她说。

这是两位候选人计划在10天内进行的四场辩论中的第一场。

科林斯是民主党在中期选举中的重点目标，他寻求连任，而特朗普曾三次在该州败北。今年7月，民主党选择缅因州前参议院议长杰克逊接替格雷厄姆·普拉特纳的提名，普拉特纳因强奸指控退出竞选，但他否认了这一指控。

近日，ProPublica 发布了一篇报道，指控柯林斯办公室存在权钱交易，选情再次出现转折。柯林斯在辩论中表示，这些指控“完全是捏造的”，“非常令人愤慨”。杰克逊则表示，这表明“政客是如何被收买的”。

杰克逊多次试图让特朗普成为柯林斯的累赘，而柯林斯则努力将他与奥古斯塔由民主党控制的州议会联系起来。他于2002年至2024年间在缅因州众议院和参议院任职，柯林斯多次借此机会提醒观众他漫长的任期。

杰克逊多次指责柯林斯“96%的时间”都和特朗普的投票立场一致，并且没有采取足够措施来反对他的关税、移民政策和伊朗战争。柯林斯详细阐述了她在这些问题上与特朗普的分歧，例如为对缅因州至关重要的某些产品争取关税豁免，但杰克逊对她的回答嗤之以鼻。

杰克逊说：“科林斯参议员就像一个纵火犯，放了火，然后她却想因为拿了一杯水来灭火而获得赞誉。”

科林斯一度对杰克逊引用的那项研究的方法论提出质疑，杰克逊称该研究得出的96%的数据就是基于这项研究。杰克逊对此不以为然，说道：“不管怎样，这种情况太常见了。”

柯林斯对谈论奥古斯塔的兴趣远大于特朗普。例如，她认为缅因州“全国电价第四高”的局面，应该归咎于该州的民主党议员。

“如果你要探究是什么政策推高了缅因州的生活成本，就不得不提到奥古斯塔，”柯林斯说。“奥古斯塔在特洛伊·杰克逊失败的领导下推行的政策就是罪魁祸首。”

杰克逊及其盟友在辩论前就毫不掩饰他们的策略：加大对长期以来标榜自己支持堕胎权的柯林斯的施压，迫使她解释自己当初投票支持卡瓦诺一事。本周是该投票八周年纪念日。

杰克逊在开场白开始几秒钟后就提到了这一点，后来在有机会向柯林斯提问时，他又抓住了这个话题。

杰克逊问道：“你到底要怎样才会承认你在卡瓦诺的问题上错了？”

科林斯为自己的投票辩护，这套说辞在整个竞选过程中早已被反复提及。她说，她“显然”不同意他推翻“罗诉韦德案”的投票，但她也表示，在确认程序中询问他对特定问题的投票意向是“不合适的”。不过，她也承认，她不喜欢他称“罗诉韦德案”是既定法律——因为她说，“在我看来，这意味着它不会被推翻。”

值得注意的是，柯林斯试图将矛头指向杰克逊，提起他在政治生涯早期所持的一系列反堕胎立场，而他后来已经否认了这些立场。

“我们这些在场的人中，只有一个人始终支持堕胎权，那就是我，”柯林斯说。

杰克逊没有上钩。

他说：“她不后悔投票给卡瓦诺”，并称“她不肯承认错误，这令人难以置信”。

苏珊·柯林斯自1997年起就担任参议员，而杰克逊则是一位政坛新秀，一些民主党人仍在了解他。即使是他的支持者也承认，他的口才和个人魅力都不如普拉特纳，尽管他们都秉持着相似的工人阶级进步政治理念。

平时衣着随意的杰克逊这次却穿了一身西装出席辩论。虽然他似乎比科林斯更积极地反击，但他始终将攻击集中在特朗普和堕胎等议题上，并没有显得过于激进。辩论最后气氛轻松愉快，两人还开玩笑地聊起了各自喜欢的橄榄球队。

杰克逊是本届参议院选举中最具进步派色彩的民主党候选人之一，这场选举是缅因州的一场关键战役。佛蒙特州独立参议员伯尼·桑德斯将于本周末访问缅因州，为他举行三场竞选集会。与桑德斯一样，杰克逊也是全民医保计划“全民医疗保险”（Medicare for All）的支持者。

当被问及他对全民医保的支持以及他对民主社会主义者（桑德斯使用的标签）的看法时，杰克逊选择回答了问题的前一部分，而不是后一部分。

杰克逊说：“我支持全民医保，这样我认识的全州各地的人都能获得医疗保健。”他还补充说，“全州各地的共和党人、民主党人和独立人士”都在支持他的竞选活动。

科林斯批评了全民医保，称杰克逊希望“让政府全面接管医疗保健服务”。

在被问及选民是否应该出示身份证明才能投票时，他们在快速问答环节中也出现了严重分歧。

“不，”杰克逊说。“作为一名伐木工，我很多次去投票都没有带身份证。”

柯林斯在另一个方向上的表述也同样明确。

“是的，”她说，“只有美国人才能在美国大选中投票。”