Susan Collins says she doesn't regret Kavanaugh vote 'in the least'

Sen. Susan CollinsSusan Margaret CollinsRepublicans prepare to punt on next COVID-19 relief bill Trump tweets spark fresh headache for Republicans Trump’s tweet on protester sparks GOP backlash MORE (R-Maine) said she does not regret her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett KavanaughBrett Michael KavanaughGOP senators urge Trump to back off Murkowski threat Judd Gregg: A government in free fall The 7 most anticipated Supreme Court decisions MORE, despite the vote becoming a key issue among Democrats hoping to unseat her when she is up for reelection next year.

“I do not regret my vote in the least,” she said in an interview with The New York Times published Saturday.

Collins cited Kavanaugh’s abortion record during his tenure on the high court.

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Though he voted to uphold a Louisiana law restricting abortion access, he declined to take up a case that posed a threat to Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized the procedure nationwide.

The Maine Republican has become a top target for Democrats looking to flip Senate seats in 2020 following her vote to confirm Kavanaugh to the high court last October. She recently gained a formidable Senate challenger in Sara Gideon, the Democratic Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, who has targeted Collins over her backing of Kavanaugh.

“At one point, maybe Sen. Collins was different, but she doesn’t seem that way anymore: taking over a million dollars from drug companies and the insurance industry and voting to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court,” Gideon said in her campaign announcement.

Collins, who has been in the Senate since 1997, has sought to defend her reputation as a moderate amid an intense effort by progressives to recruit candidates to challenge her.

“I’m an important voice for the nation in an increasingly polarized environment,” she told the Times. “There are so few members left in the center.”

“It’s ironic to me that I am among [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck SchumerChuck SchumerOvernight Health Care: US showing signs of retreat in battle against COVID-19 | Regeneron begins clinical trials of potential coronavirus antibody treatment | CMS warns nursing homes against seizing residents’ stimulus checks Schumer requests briefing with White House coronavirus task force as cases rise Schumer on Trump’s tweet about 75-year-old protester: He ‘should go back to hiding in the bunker’ MORE’s [D-N.Y.] top targets when there is no one who works more across the aisle,” she added.

Betsy Sweet, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2018, and Bre Kidman, an attorney, are also challenging Collins for her seat.