Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a vulnerable Republican, joined Troy Jackson, her Democratic challenger, for a tense debate on Thursday that centered on President Trump’s policies and featured a feisty exchange over the war with Iran.
It was the second debate in three days between the candidates, who are scheduled to meet twice more next week. They are running neck-and-neck, according to polls, in a race that could be critical to determining which party wins control of the Senate.
Here are five takeaways from the debate:
‘You owe me an apology’
Mr. Jackson, attacking Ms. Collins over her past support for the war with Iran, claimed that Ms. Collins was profiting off the conflict, which she has been voting to end since April.
“Senator Collins and her husband are making money — more — off this war, and so are a whole bunch of other people,” Mr. Jackson claimed. “And that’s why this doesn’t stop.”
He did not offer evidence for his claim, and his campaign did not clarify the accusation when asked about it after the debate.
Onstage, Ms. Collins appeared to be offended.
“That is absolutely outrageous,” Ms. Collins said, pointing a finger at Mr. Jackson. “And you owe me an apology.”
Mr. Jackson said, “No, you owe me an apology.”
Twice more, Ms. Collins denounced the attack as “absolutely outrageous.”
Trump again in focus
Again and again, Mr. Jackson sought to tie Ms. Collins to the unpopular Mr. Trump. The senator, in turn, sought to distinguish herself from the president.
They each offered their own stats for how often Ms. Collins voted with the president.
At one point, Mr. Jackson said Maine was struggling with an economy “Donald Trump and Susan Collins have created.”
Ms. Collins noted that she had voted against Mr. Trump’s signature domestic policy bill and against the war. “Nobody has been more outspoken against the Canadian tariffs than I have,” she added, referring to Mr. Trump’s trade war with Canada.
Mr. Jackson said Ms. Collins was “not being truthful” about her record.
Jackson says his campaign isn’t about Graham Platner
At one point, the moderator, Jon Chrisos, asked Mr. Jackson whether voters should view his campaign as his own — and not as inherited from Graham Platner, the initial Democratic nominee, who dropped out after a rape allegation, which Mr. Platner denied.
“Well, it isn’t my own campaign,” Jackson said. “It’s the people across Maine — it’s their campaign. And I’ve said that consistently. It’s not about Troy Jackson, it’s not about Graham Platner.”
Abortion remains center stage
In the first debate, Mr. Jackson quickly focused on the 2018 vote by Ms. Collins, who supports abortion rights, to confirm a Supreme Court justice who later helped overturn Roe v. Wade, Brett M. Kavanaugh.
On Thursday, Mr. Jackson initially turned his attention elsewhere. But it wasn’t long before he was bringing abortion back up — and pointing to Mr. Kavanaugh.
“She knew that he was anti-abortion,” Mr. Jackson said, though Ms. Collins said in 2018 that Mr. Kavanaugh had convinced her that he would not vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Ms. Collins responded by noting that Mr. Jackson, a former Republican, opposed abortion protections years ago.
“The fact is that I have been pro-choice the entire time that I have served in the Senate,” she said. “That’s not true of Troy.”
Term limits? Collins says elections do the trick.
In a late lightning round, the candidates were asked if Congress should have term limits.
Mr. Jackson, a former State Senate president and a newcomer to national politics, said: “Absolutely. I mean, we have them in Maine. They work well.”
Ms. Collins, who is running for a sixth term and is now the longest-serving Republican woman in Senate history, rejected the idea.
“That’s what you have elections for,” she said.
Taylor Robinson contributed reporting.
The post 5 Key Moments From a Testy Maine Senate Debate: ‘You Owe Me an Apology’ appeared first on New York Times.
