Allen campaign hits Collins for filibuster support

Tom Allen’s campaign hit Sen. Susan Collins today for not supporting a cloture motion that would have ended a filibuster on the U.S. Senate floor yesterday. The filibuster, initiated by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., blocked a package of 35 bills from moving forward.

Allen, a Democratic representative, is challenging Collins for her Senate seat.

The cloture vote failed 52-40. It needed 60 votes to pass.

The package included a wide range of bills, from providing research money to paralysis victims to a measure to crack down on child pornography to a measure commemorating the Star-Spangled Banner.

Coburn defended his filibuster by saying the package included much wasteful spending.

Carol Andrews, Allen’s spokeswoman, said the vote was a partisan move

"Yesterday Susan Collins took the side of her party's leadership over the side of Mainers,” said Carol Andrews, spokeswoman for Allen, in a release. "It's a classic case of saying one thing in Maine and doing another in Washington. Susan Collins is so opposed to change that she voted against critical legislation that no one should have reason to oppose."

Kevin Kelley, spokesman for Collins, responded in an e-mail to PolitickerME that it was the Democrats playing partisan politics by trying to push through a big package of bills instead of considering each one individually.

"Rather than allow a thoughtful debate to try and find solutions for the high cost of energy, the Democratic leadership in the Senate instead chose to play partisan politics by forcing a vote on a massive, 400-page bill that authorizes nearly $10 billion in new spending and includes more than three dozen pieces of legislation,” Kelley said.