SKOWHEGAN, Maine (AP) - Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King endorsed his Republican colleague Susan Collins’ bid for a fourth term in the Senate on Friday, praising her willingness to work with those outside of her political party.
King, who caucuses with Democrats and once considered Collins a political foe, called her a model senator and one of the most-respected people in Congress.
“She makes decisions thoughtfully and she does so with integrity and without a great deal of reference to politics,” he said alongside Collins at the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan.
“And that’s a quality that we need, particularly at this day in age, when everything is seen as somehow political and related to the next election.”
King has not previously endorsed Collins; they were political opponents when he beat her and Democrat Joe Brennan in a four-way race for governor in 1994.
But the two touted their close relationship in Congress, particularly their work together on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
They also created the so-called gang of 14 to deal with the government shutdown, worked together on a student loan bill and combined their muscle to ensure that the Navy exercised an option to build an extra destroyer at Bath Iron Works.
King said he had nothing negative to say about Collins’ challenger, Shenna Bellows, the former executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union.
Bellows said Friday that it’s still early in the race and that voters are warming to her once they get to know her. She said that she respects King’s thoughtful and independent decision.
“Who to support in a race in the U.S. Senate is about more than us,” she said. “It’s about the party that’ll be in control in the Senate and about the future of our country.”
Collins said that she and King share a desire to break down political barriers in Congress to try to get things done.
“Both of us work so hard to try to bridge the partisan divide in the Senate that so often leads to excessive gridlock,” she said.
During the government shutdown, the two joined forces with a coalition to press for a compromise to end the stalemate, reopen government and avert a Treasury default.
Collins, who faces write-in candidate Erick Bennett on the June 10 primary ballot, recently began stepping up her fundraising. In the last reporting period, she raised $870,000 and had more than $3.6 million in cash on hand. Bellows had $515,724 in cash on hand at the end of the reporting period March 31.
The location chosen for Friday’s endorsement holds symbolic value for Collins. She has said that Smith, the late senator from Skowhegan, was a mentor who inspired her.
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AP writer David Sharp in Portland contributed to this report.
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