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Sen. Susan Collins has been an ideal representative for Maine for 30 years and I have voted for her five times in that period. Having said that, she must be voted out in November. Here’s why.

Despite Collins’ often bipartisan stance, there is one vote she will almost certainly cast solely on party basis: her vote for Senate majority leader. And that person is the sole individual in Washington who decides what the Senate shall consider. A very important gatekeeper indeed.

Choosing the lesser of two evils has long been a mainstay of American politics and will be again this year. However this principle has reached a critical point in history as the sitting Republican president, someone for whom I voted three times, has lost my support. Voting to reelect a Republican Collins in 2026 will be, in effect, voting to support more disastrous policy decisions ranging from the Middle East to the Canadian border to domestic America. It is a long list of screw-ups.

Yes, the Democratic Party offers plenty of bad ideas, ideas typically rooted in wishful thinking rather than reality. But given the Republicans’ demonstrated and ongoing devotion to the man in the White House, Democratic candidate Troy Jackson is definitely the lesser of two evils. He is the safer vote in November. Let’s put him in office. If he proves to be a dud, we can vote him out.

Scott Cole
Bethel