Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is pushing against a pair of ads from a group linked to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that suggests she has enriched herself with stocks over her nearly three decades in Washington.
The Majority Forward PAC, a political action committee that is affiliated with the Schumer-linked Senate Majority PAC, launched a $700,000 ad campaign against Collins, who is eyeing a bid for a sixth term in the Senate, but has yet to officially launch her campaign.
The pair of ads, one a 30-second spot titled ‘Greed,’ the other a 15-second spot titled ‘This Life,’ target Collins for her opposition to a congressional stock trading ban by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. However, her office argued that through images of private jets and Collins in glamorous attire, the ads suggested that she has personally enriched herself through trades while working as a lawmaker.
The ads accuse Collins of ‘the worst kind of greed; using insider information to trade stocks.’
‘She’s opposing a bipartisan bill that would ban members of Congress from trading stocks,’ the narrator said. ‘Our representatives should be serving the people of Maine, not lining their own pockets.’
While Collins does not directly own any stocks, according to disclosure filings, her husband Tom Daffron does. However, a trade has not been made since last year, and her office argued that Daffron’s holdings are made by a third-party advisor.
‘Senator Collins has never bought, sold, or owned any shares of stock during her entire Senate tenure,’ her office told Fox News Digital. ‘Tom Daffron’s investment decisions are made exclusively by a third-party advisor without his consultation. No individual stocks have been bought or sold from his account in almost three years.’
Majority Forward spokesperson Lauren French fired back in a statement to Fox News Digital that the ads go after Collins ‘for her refusal to support a stock trading ban for members of Congress and their families — bipartisan legislation that 95 percent of Mainers support.’
‘Nowhere in the ad does it say Senator Collins regularly buys, sells, or owns stocks (though her husband does) — but if she is still confused, we’ll be happy to continue airing it throughout Maine so both she and her constituents can understand how her opposition to ending stock trading is enabling her colleagues to benefit from their positions of power,’ French said.
Senate Democrats are hoping that their prized candidate, Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, jumps into the race to take on Collins. However, Mills, who is term-limited, has not made an official announcement on her plans and the Democratic primary has fast become crowded.
Collins told the Bangor Daily News that she did not support Hawley’s bill last month, and instead argued that there should be more enforcement of already existing rules that bar members from insider trading.
The White House similarly panned the bill, which would has included a carve out for both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, and all Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Accountability Committee, except for Hawley, voted against the bill. Collins is not a member of that committee.
However, Trump has since warmed to the idea of a congressional stock trading ban, and lauded the push by Rep. Anna Paulina, R-Fla., as a ‘MASSIVE WIN’ on Truth Social.