Planned Parenthood Launches Historic Ad Blitz Against Collins
Planned Parenthood is spending $600,000 targeting Maine Senator Susan Collins over her Kavanaugh vote in what represents the group's largest single-race investment of the 2026 cycle.
According to Emily Hallas writing in Washington Examiner, Planned Parenthood Votes is investing $600,000 in advertising aimed at portraying Collins as hostile to abortion rights, despite her long-standing moderate record on the issue. The substantial ad buy underscores how Democrats view Maine’s Senate contest as potentially decisive for control of the upper chamber.
Collins faces a competitive reelection battle against Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, who replaced original nominee Graham Platner on the ballot. The race has emerged as one of the most intensely watched Senate contests nationwide, with Republicans holding only a narrow majority that could swing on its outcome.
The Maine Republican has maintained a nuanced position on abortion throughout her career, supporting access to the procedure until fetal viability while opposing late-term abortions except when maternal health is at risk. She has publicly defended her Kavanaugh vote, noting that judicial confirmations have historically received bipartisan support, while simultaneously criticizing the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs ruling that returned abortion policy to individual states.
Abortion advocates have nonetheless trained their fire on Collins for backing Kavanaugh, who joined the majority in Dobbs, and for a procedural vote advancing President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2024, which defunded Planned Parenthood. Notably, Collins voted against final passage of that legislation.
Blake Kernen, a spokesman for Collins, pushed back against the attacks, pointing out that her Democratic opponent received a perfect 100% pro-life rating from anti-abortion groups as recently as 2013.
Jackson served six years as Maine Senate president and earned top scores from Maine Right to Life in 2010. As recently as 2022, he acknowledged personal struggles with the abortion issue. His position has since shifted dramatically—he now supports late-term abortions and cosponsored 2023 state legislation permitting abortions after viability based on physician judgment.
The aggressive targeting of Collins forms part of a broader $47 million advertising offensive by Planned Parenthood Votes designed to make abortion central to the 2026 midterm elections and chip away at Republican congressional majorities.
Sarah Standiford, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, framed the campaign in sweeping terms when it launched in July, describing the moment as existential and calling for significant electoral impact to allow voters to reclaim reproductive decision-making authority state by state.
With information from Washington Examiner
