Dem Senate nominee silent after Susan Collins' office was vandalized with vulgar message

Someone spray-painted a crude anti-Trump insult across the entrance of Senator Susan Collins' constituent office in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday, and police there have opened an investigation. Her office confirmed the damage. Maine state Sen. Matt Harrington, the assistant Republican leader in that chamber, shared a photo of the defaced doors on Facebook and X. Collins' chief of staff, Katie Brown, said the senator and her staff would not be intimidated, and that the office is still open to residents, according to Fox News.

The episode lands in the middle of a tight campaign. Collins, a Republican, wants a sixth term, and Democrats see her seat as essential to their hopes of retaking Senate control this fall. Her opponent is Troy Jackson, a Democrat who once led the Maine Senate. Fox News Digital says it asked Jackson's campaign several times for a reaction to the vandalism and got no reply.

That silence drew criticism from Austin Theriault, a Republican who narrowly lost the 2024 congressional race to Democratic Rep. Jared Golden and is now running to return to the state House. Theriault told Fox News Digital that condemning such acts should not give anyone pause, whatever their politics. He said he believed Collins would swiftly denounce similar conduct if the target were a Democrat, and he asked whether Maine Democrats have an "identity problem" given Jackson's lack of comment.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →