Maine GOP overwhelmingly rejects Collins censure

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Tim O'Donnell
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There will be no censure for Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Several of Collins' Republican colleagues in Congress who either voted to impeach or, like Collins, convict former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot earlier this year drew the ire of their state Republican parties. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.), for example, joined Collins in voting to convict and were quickly censured back home, while Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) faced a harsh rebuke that stopped short of censure. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) also avoided a statewide censure, though certain counties went through with it.

Collins, though, appeared to have a lot less trouble than the others. Maine's GOP, however, overwhelming rejected a resolution to censure Collins on Saturday, with only 19 of the 60 voters backing the censure. That prompted the centrist senator to call the decision "a testament to the Republican Party's 'big tent' philosophy that respects different views but unites around core principles."

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