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But Collins’s oddly timed decision to insert herself into the race on Earle-Sears’s behalf is a curiosity. The perpetually concerned Maine senator, after all, routinely claims to be pro-choice—all while having a heavy hand in the construction of the Roe v. Wade–gutting conservative Supreme Court supermajority—yet she is sticking her neck out for a candidate who has called abortion “genocide,” suggested that consenting to sex is consenting to pregnancy, and has pledged, if elected, to sign a ban on abortion at 15 weeks or earlier. Such an outcome would be devastating, as Virginia is the only state in the South without an abortion ban following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision. For her part, Spanberger supports an amendment to codify abortion rights in the state constitution; the legislatively referred amendment needs to pass the House of Delegates again next session before it can go to voters in November 2026. The email subject line from the Collins campaign reads, “BIGGEST race of 2025,” while the body says, “It’s Winsome Earle-Sears. I’m locked in the BIGGEST race of 2025. Can you chip in to help me win this?” Underneath a donate button and a photo of Earle-Sears is a box that reads, “Paid for by Collins for Senator,” the name of Collins’s campaign committee.
