Susan Collins' re-election bid haunted by exposed Oath-Keeper hire

Tom Boggioni
September 2, 2026 

RAW STORY


U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) walks in Capitol Hill, as Republican lawmakers struggle to pass U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping spending and tax bill, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 30, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Republican Sen. Susan Collins' hold on her Maine Senate seat is slipping as Democrats pounce on her ties to a member of the far-right Oath Keepers organization.

It's been one headache after another for Collins as she fights to defend a seat targeted by Democrats for a November flip, the Daily Beast reported Wednesday.

Those headaches include billionaire donors with ties to Jeffrey Epstein, gas-money pleas to voters to fuel her re-election tour, and President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada, according to the Beast.

Now she is about to face questions about her hiring of Piscataquis County Commissioner Wayne Erkkine, 81, as her town chair in Greenville, which "puts him in charge of grassroots campaigns and voter outreach."

According to the report, Erkkinen's name popped up in the Oath Keepers' leaked membership rolls of more than 38,000 names and has been identified by the Anti-Defamation League as a member of the group behind the January 6 Capitol attack.

Erkkine told the Beast he quit "years ago," before the riot, claiming, "It wasn't what I thought it would be.

Nonetheless, his ties to the Collins campaign has reportedly given Democrats "fresh ammunition," by linking the embattled GOP lawmaker to extremists who took part in the assault on Washington, D.C., as part of a Trump-inspired insurrection.