Collins’s Maine office vandalized on eve of election

A federal constituent service office of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was vandalized overnight for the second time within the last two months as the incumbent winds down a tight race to hold on to her seat.

Photos obtained by NewsNation show red paint was used to write “blood on her hands” and was also splashed onto the sidewalk outside Collins’s Biddeford office. The town is where Venezuelan migrant Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was shot and killed by an immigration officer earlier this year.

Collins, speaking with a CBS reporter in Maine, called the incident “disgraceful.”

“Last night we once again had vandalism at my federal office in Biddeford. This office does constituent service work. This is not a political office. It’s always there, helping people with problems with Social Security or Veterans Benefits or the IRS,” she said.

“This is so unacceptable, and it’s unfair to my caseworkers who are working there. And fortunately, they refuse to be intimidated by this. And the office is open and doing business today.”

Collins’s chief of staff, Katie Brown, said in a statement the move was meant to “intimidate the Senator and her staff.”

“These tactics are disturbing, but not effective. Our staff is undeterred and on the job,” she said.

The Biddeford office was also vandalized in September with a reference to President Trump, while Collins has also said her Bangor home was egged that same month.

Collins, the only Republican senator from New England, is running against former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson.