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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Sen. Susan Collins didn't vote for Donald Trump for president in 2016 or 2020, and the third time will not be the charm — because she is writing in Nikki Haley.
Collins, a longtime moderate Republican senator from Maine, told reporters on Friday that she intended to write in the former South Carolina governor's name on the ballot in November. The move recalls 2016, when Collins said she wrote in then-House Speaker Paul Ryan for president over Trump.
Collins is the only New England Republican in Congress and the only Republican holding statewide office in Maine, where Trump has twice won an electoral vote. She said Friday that she is sticking with her endorsement of Haley despite the fact Haley will not be on the ballot.
“I publicly endorsed Nikki Haley, and I wanted her to win. She’s still my favorite candidate, and I think she could do a great job. She’s my choice, and that’s how I’m going to express it," Collins told WMTW-TV.
Collins made the remarks about the election at an event in Limerick, about 34 miles west of Portland, where she was speaking at a ribbon-cutting for a new fire and EMS station. After the event, Collins spokesperson Annie Clark said Collins has made clear that she does not intend to vote for Trump many times, and she has voiced support for Haley before, including during a June television appearance.
During that appearance, on Spectrum News, Collins said she “does not support the Democratic nominee either” and supports “some of President Trump's policies.” However, she also said “a lot of it is President Trump's style as well -- I think it's divisive at a time when our country is already so polarized.”
Collins was also one of seven Republicans who voted at an impeachment trial to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection after his supporters breached the U.S. Capitol.
Collins was elected to the Senate in 1996. She is the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate and is often a key vote -- and she is famous for not missing votes.
Collins is not on the ballot in 2024 and was most recently reelected in 2020, when she defeated Democratic challenger Sara Gideon by a wider margin than many prognosticators expected.
She represents a state where Trump has twice lost the statewide vote but picked up one electoral vote because Maine is one of two states to apportion electoral votes by district. Trump has many fans in rural Maine, which makes up most of the 2nd Congressional District.