Susan Collins’s Kavanaugh vote sparks calls to boycott Maine products, tourism

Activists upset with Sen. Susan Collins’s vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh say they will inflict economic damage on the Republican senator’s home state by boycotting Maine products and tourism.

“Dear Susan Collins – I really struggled with this but my tourist $ just voted against ever visiting Maine while you remain in office,” actor and comedian John Fugelsang said Friday in a tweet that has since been deleted, according to the Portland Press Herald.

{mosads}The tweet garnered hundreds of comments from users saying they would join Fugelsang in the boycott, with one person canceling a $2,200 reservation at Point Sebago resort, the Press Herald reported.

John Tesar, who owns six restaurants in Texas and is opening a seafood restaurant in California, told the newspaper that he’ll look elsewhere for the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” worth of seafood that he buys annually from Maine.

“I am so disappointed and angry at her,” he said. “My intent is not to hurt the fishermen, it’s to have them vote her out of office. The only way to make a difference in this day and age is economically, and on Nov. 6.”

One Maine lobster dealer told the newspaper that he has lost a few customers since the boycott call was initiated last week after Collins announced in a Senate floor speech that she would be voting to confirm Kavanaugh the next day.

The senator’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Hill.

Collins, who’s considered a swing vote in the Senate, was lobbied by supporters and opponents of Kavanaugh leading up to her announcement. She has personally faced off with anti-Kavanaugh protesters on Capitol Hill, and many have demonstrated outside her offices in Maine.

Kavanaugh’s confirmation process was upended after three women went public with allegations of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh from when he was in high school and college. He issued a fiery denial at a hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in which he called the accusations “smears” that were part of Democrats’ “revenge on behalf of the Clintons.”

The FBI subsequently opened an investigation into the allegations and sent a report back to the Senate, which Republicans said offered no corroborating evidence. Democrats said the probe was too narrow in scope.

The Senate voted Saturday to confirm Kavanaugh in a 50-48 vote that was mostly along party lines.