BANGOR, Maine (AP) —
The Maine Republican Party State Committee decided Saturday against censuring GOP U.S. Sen. Susan Collins over her vote to convict former President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial.
The state GOP rejected the motion by a vote of 41 to 19, Collins’ office said.
“Today’s decision is a testament to the Republican Party’s ‘big tent’ philosophy that respects different views but unites around core principles,” Collins said in a statement.
“Our party has been most successful when it has embraced this approach to advance our shared goals of providing tax relief to families and small business job creators, pursuing fiscal responsibility and government accountability, promoting personal responsibility, protecting constitutional rights, and ensuring a strong national defense,” her statement read.
Collins was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection after his supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, interrupting the counting of electoral votes. The Senate voted 57-43 to acquit Trump.
About three dozen member Maine GOP officials, including Chair Demi Kouzounas, sent a letter last month to “condemn in the strongest possible terms” the senator’s actions. And GOP members in county where Collins was born and raised last weekend approved a resolution saying her action undermines “conservative and ethical values.”
Collins, who was reelected in November and is the only current Republican federal office holder in New England, has said previously that she upheld her constitutional duty as a senator to render “impartial justice.” She has also said that the party should be more focused on winning elections instead than in looking at the past.
“I think that we need to send a message that you can be a good Republican and not necessarily agree with every position taken by the party,” the fifth-term senator has said.
Democrats control the governorship and both chambers of the state Legislature. And Democrat Craig Hickman easily defeated Republican William Guerrette this month in a special election for the Senate District 14 seat.
Collins is not alone in Congress in taking heat for her vote at home. The Louisiana GOP censured U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, and the Wyoming GOP censured U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney for her House vote to impeach Trump.
(Copyright (c) 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)