Collins rules out Maine governor’s bid, will stay in Senate

ROCKPORT, Maine — Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced Friday that she won’t run for governor because she believes she can do more good by remaining in Washington, where she serves as an important swing vote.

Her announcement was welcomed by supporters who view her as an important check on President Donald Trump, with whom she was at odds on the GOP’s health care proposals.

“My voice and vote really matter in Washington right now. The Senate is closely divided, and I am able to make a difference,” Collins, 64, said after a local chamber of commerce breakfast.

Speculation about Collins’ political future had been swirling for more than a year in her home state, where the moderate remains popular even as Maine’s Republican Party has become more conservative. Collins, whose term ends in 2020, acknowledged that it was a difficult decision, one that she’d struggled over.

The only Republican senator from New England has found herself among a dwindling number of GOP centrists like Arizona’s John McCain who are willing to work across the aisle. But she’s not afraid to buck her own party: She introduced a bill to let transgender people serve in the military, and she opposed efforts to kill the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act without a replacement.

She’s been a consistent thorn in the side of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as her willingness to go her own way has left him short of votes on key bills, most prominently his efforts to repeal the 2010 health law.

On Friday, McConnell praised Collins for choosing to remain in the Senate, saying she “brings conviction, smarts and leadership to every issue.” Maine’s other senator, independent Angus King who caucuses with the Democrats, called her “a champion for the state of Maine.”

Collins spent much of her announcement touting the importance of finding bipartisan solutions to make health care affordable for all. She said her fellow lawmakers “must stop allowing partisanship to be a pre-existing condition.”

Collins was one of three Republican senators who sunk the Republican Senate health care bill. She also serves key roles on the Appropriations Committee and on the Intelligence Committee.