A Fox News co-host said Friday that Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) could face a tough road in the upcoming elections to maintain her Senate seat in the fallout over the fatal ICE shooting in her state.
Democratic strategist Jessica Tarlov pointed out that since Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner stepped down from the race amid allegations of sexual assault, it's opened up more questions and scrutiny over Collins' vote on ICE funding as potential Democratic hopefuls push their campaigns forward.
"There is a lot of energy right now in Maine, and it is blue energy in the Democratic sense," Tarlov said. "There is a reason that they are talking about the policies of Graham Platner because they were overwhelmingly popular with the primary electorate."
Now, it's been six years, and Collins has voted with Trump "95 percent of the time," Tarlov added.
"Right now Maine is in full crisis mode over this ICE murder from last week of Johan Guerrero," she said. "Everyone's talking about Susan Collins, one of the deciding votes for that extra $70 billion for ICE funding."
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's threats on Friday that federal immigration officials would ramp up street-level enforcement could also be problematic for Collins, Tarlov argued.
"We're going to be turning up the heat in the streets," she said. "Susan Collins doesn't want any heat up in the streets. Susan Collins is going to have a very difficult time hanging on if things like this are going on in her state, and if you can tie her directly to the funding."
"She's got to run even stronger than she did in 2020; this is a different environment, and it is a very anti-Trump environment, and she is tied with him with 95% of her votes," Tarlov added.
Jessica: Markwayne Mullin said we are going to be turning up the heat in the streets. Susan Collins doesn't want any heat up in the streets. Susan Collins is going to have a very difficult time hanging on if things like this are going on in her state. pic.twitter.com/vliXcyYGGc
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 17, 2026