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\n

More than $1.5 billion in earmarks couldn\u2019t save Sen. Susan Collins from the \u201cblue wave\u201d Tuesday night, proving outsized influence in Congress isn\u2019t always an antidote for deep voter dissatisfaction with an incumbent party.<\/p>\n

The Maine Republican centered her reelection campaign on the argument that, in an institution largely governed by seniority, her nearly 30 years in Washington and control of the powerful Appropriations Committee could deliver more for Maine than her Democratic challenger Troy Jackson. She even peppered voters with county-specific text messages in the final days before polls closed, touting the spoils of a half-decade of earmarks guaranteeing funding for specific home-state projects.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t enough, by a long shot. Collins lost to Jackson by almost 8 percentage points Tuesday night, matching similar Democratic blowouts throughout the country as Republicans were ousted from control of both the House and Senate.<\/p>\n

Collins campaign manager Steve Abbott attributed the Republican incumbent\u2019s loss to \u201cbigger forces at play\u201d than local politics, noting that the five-term senator \u201chas been able to do extraordinary things for the state at a level that’s unprecedented in our modern history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are really unhappy about the direction of the country,\u201d Abbott added in an interview at the Collins watch party as disappointed supporters left the ballroom at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bangor.<\/p>\n

Collins is not the only Republican incumbent who touted earmarks<\/u><\/a> in the final weeks before Election Day and lost anyway. Reps. Mike Lawler of New York, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania and Monica De La Cruz of Texas were all defeated Tuesday despite reminding voters of the hundreds of millions of dollars they each secured for specific projects in their districts.<\/p>\n

Three others who took that tack \u2014 Reps. David Valadao of California, Rob Wittman of Virginia and Tom Barrett of Michigan \u2014 are trailing their Democratic challengers as election officials continue to tally votes in those districts.<\/p>\n

Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat who has represented Portland and surrounding towns for almost 18 years, said in an interview that there is no doubt voters are \u201cgrateful for the amount of money a state’s able to receive\u201d when represented by a top appropriator.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think Mainers were balancing the Republican majority and the cuts to our state already,\u201d Pingree added. \u201cSo, yes \u2014 we hate to lose the earmarks that go to fire departments and sewer projects and other things. But overall, we’re much better off without a Republican majority.\u201d<\/p>\n

She noted almost $1 trillion in reductions to health care spending under the GOP megabill enacted last year, President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs, staffing losses at federal agencies like USDA and the expiration of subsidies for people who buy health care through the federal marketplace.<\/p>\n

Jackson, the Democrat who beat Collins, said on Election Day he should be assigned to the Appropriations Committee to ensure Maine still has a seat at the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know people will chuckle and stuff like that. I know it’s based on seniority,\u201d Jackson told reporters at a canvassing event in Portland Tuesday, hours before the polls called. \u201cBut I think if I beat the Appropriations chair, then I should be on Appropriations. That’s going to be my argument anyways.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, a person close to the Collins campaign, granted anonymity to speak candidly, warned that Maine voters \u201care going to wake up and be kind of shocked\u201d at the influence and funding they have lost by ousting the longtime senator \u2014 and that \u201csomeone brand new\u201d won\u2019t be able to bring home the same level of federal funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go to any town here in Maine,\u201d the person said, \u201cand Sen. Collins has delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than $1.5 billion in earmarks couldn\u2019t save Sen. Susan Collins from the \u201cblue wave\u201d Tuesday night, proving outsized influence in Congress isn\u2019t always an antidote for deep voter dissatisfaction with an incumbent party. The Maine Republican centered her reelection campaign on the argument that, in an institution largely governed by seniority, her nearly 30 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27754\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}