This letter ran in the Mount Desert Islander, Aug. 10, 2026
To the Editor:
I urge Maine citizens to recognize the immense power we grant our elected officials. It’s crucial to know their personalities and skills. Voters need to be informed and be allowed to advocate about the world we want to live in and to review voting records by candidates that meet those objectives.
Susan Collins doesn’t trust the citizens of Maine to support her in her bid for a sixth term. She continues to avoid any extensive public meetings with Mainers, which suggests she feels guilty about her service to Maine as our senator.
Our senators and legislators must serve all of Maine, not for self-interest or to do others’ bidding. Susan Collins’s recent voting record suggests the latter. Her symbolic and strategic votes for Medicaid cuts, judicial confirmations, and her being “insufficiently” critical of immigration actions have purposely and materially harmed Maine people.
Susan Collins is weak and requires dark money to continue doing the bidding for political operatives like “Stronger America” and “Pine Tree Results.” These 501(c)(4) and political action committees received millions of undisclosed investor money for her campaign.
The Republican leadership clearly fears she can’t win on her own merit. I urge my fellow Mainers to choose power for Maine citizens. Don’t be fooled by the Republican operatives financing the Collins campaign to serve the interests of big-money donors.
Libbey Gulliver
Blue Hill