Kevin Miller

But then Senator Collins stepped in and personally intervened.

And according to Senator Collins, the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, she agreed to end this enforcement surge because of her conversation.

So Senator Collins is basically saying, look, because of my influence and because of my experience and tenure, I was able to get ICE to withdraw or to reduce its presence in Maine.

And if you had a less experienced senator, they're not going to be able to do that.

Democrats are basically downplaying Senator Collins' role in this.

They say, look, the writing was already on the wall as far as what was happening in Minnesota.

ICE was starting to withdraw, and this was probably already going to happen.

And Democrats are also criticizing Senator Collins.

for continuing to support what is now, I guess, the Republican-backed proposal for Department of Homeland Security, which does provide some funding for body cameras and for de-escalation training, but doesn't contain all the reforms, the additional reforms that Democrats are saying are needed.

So the Democrats up here in Maine are saying, look, that's fine that she got involved and can take credit, but she's not doing enough to actually bring about the systemic reforms that we need at ICE.

That's part of what the dynamics that we're seeing from the Democratic candidates.

You have Graham Platner, who is from a very rural coastal area, who's saying, look, I'm the kind of person I, you know, my friends, my neighbors, they all voted for Trump.

I'm the kind of person you need to reach those voters.

But then you have Governor Mills, who is also from the western, more rural part of the state.

Her argument is, look, I'm the only Democrat that's been elected on a statewide basis to

in both rural and more urban areas in recent decades.

So that's her argument for why she's the best candidate in the Democratic primary.

King, who is an independent, has faced intense criticism in Maine for joining seven Democrats in voting to reopen government.

As part of the deal, Republican leaders agreed to hold a Senate vote on whether to extend subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

The two Democratic caucuses had been demanding an outright extension.