Susan Collins challenger says she’d vote to end 60-vote filibuster to push through Dem priorities

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Sarah Gideon, Maine’s House speaker and a Democratic Senate candidate, said she would support repealing the Senate filibuster so her party could pass major legislation with a simple majority.

Senate rules allow senators to speak on the floor for as long as they wish and hold up bills, unless three-fifths of the Senate, or 60 senators, vote to bring the debate to a close. Gideon told the Bangor Daily News she would change the 60-vote hurdle to a simple majority if it stood in the way of Democratic priorities, such as health care.

“I think what Americans need and what Mainers need more than anything is government that functions, and I think that the filibuster prevents us from functioning and making progress on issues,” Gideon said.

The Democratic state House speaker has rolled out a health care agenda that includes a Medicare-like public option. Such a proposal would be unlikely to pass without eliminating the filibuster.

Gideon isn’t the only Democrat running for a Senate seat to propose an end to the filibuster should Democrats take back the Senate. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority, but a number of seats are up for reelection this year in swing districts. Gideon has maintained a lead over Collins in most polls and the race has been rated a toss-up.

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Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, who is running to unseat GOP Sen. Steve Daines has said he would vote to end the filibuster. Former Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, running to unseat GOP Sen. Cory Gardner has said he’s open to discussing filibuster reform. Democratic Senate candidates in Iowa and North Carolina have signaled they’re open to filibuster reform.

Even Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Politico this week when asked about getting rid of the filibuster, “Nothing is off the table.”

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Collins has defended the procedural move, and rebuked Gideon’s stance through a spokesperson. Though she’s defended the legislative hurdle, she voted to remove it for Supreme Court nominees in 2017 after Justice Neil Gorsuch failed to get enough Democrat votes to overcome it. Republicans used the “nuclear option” to move Gorsuch through with a simple majority.