Sara Gideon, speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, said Monday that she would challenge Sen. Susan Collins, making her the most formidable opponent yet for a U.S. Senate seat that Democrats have identified as a target in the 2020 election.
Gideon, a Democrat, said that her decision was spurred partly by the vote that Collins, a Republican expected to seek her fifth term, cast in support for Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Collins, 66, had gained a reputation for independence and bipartisanship during 22 years in the Senate — a fact acknowledged by Gideon in her announcement video. More recently, though, she has voted repeatedly to support President Donald Trump’s agenda, in what has been perceived as a veer to the right. Her approval rating has also declined in some public polls.
“At one point maybe she was different than some of the folks in Washington,” Gideon said in the video. “But she doesn’t seem that way anymore.”
Collins’ pivotal decision to support Kavanaugh last year “put women’s control over their own health care decisions in extreme jeopardy,” the video said.
In a statement, a spokesman for Collins said: “One of the reasons why Sen. Collins has been so effective is that she has more seniority than any U.S. senator from Maine over the past 70 years. She will continue to build on her record of extraordinary accomplishments for the people of Maine.”
Gideon, 47, of Freeport, had sponsored legislation in Maine — signed into law this year — to expand abortion access by permitting health care professionals who are not physicians to perform the procedure. She was also behind an effort to expand benefits to families in poverty.
Gideon, the only candidate who has held major elective office, is expected to face at least two other candidates for the Democratic nomination: Betsy Sweet, an activist and former candidate for governor; and Bre Kidman, a lawyer. Derek Levasseur, a conservative blogger, has announced he will run against Collins in the Republican primary.
The Democrats have a yearlong competitive primary ahead: They will not be picking a nominee until June 2020.
Whoever wins the Democratic nomination is expected to pick up strong financial support from outside groups. Shortly after Collins’ vote to approve Kavanaugh, three organizations joined together to form a political action committee called CrowdPac aimed at defeating Collins.
The Center for Responsive Politics said Thursday that the fund had already collected $4 million.
Indicating the seat’s importance, Collins’ campaign funds also swelled after her vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
In announcing her candidacy, Gideon said she first got the idea to run for public office in 2009 when someone left a message on her family’s answering machine asking her husband to consider running for town council.
When she pushed the button and heard the message, she said, “I thought to myself, actually I think that’s a job that I can do.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.