Overview
- Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday that she does not regret voting to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 and added that she disagrees with his vote in the 2022 Dobbs decision.
- Collins defended her approach to confirmations by saying senators should judge nominees on qualifications, integrity and experience rather than try to predict future rulings.
- Democratic nominee Graham Platner quickly seized on Collins’s remarks, responding on social media and encouraging use of the footage as campaign ads.
- Polling reported in coverage shows Platner with a recent edge, including a Wick/2Way survey that placed him at 48% to Collins’s 45% and multiple New York Times–tracked polls showing him ahead since last month.
- The dispute connects a 2018 confirmation vote to the political fallout from Dobbs, which returned abortion policy to the states and prompted Maine to expand protections, making judicial accountability and messaging a central issue in the 2026 race.