Senator Susan Collins (R., Maine) said Friday she will be casting a write-in vote for Nikki Haley in November, rather than supporting former president Donald Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee.
Collins endorsed Haley earlier this year when the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations unsuccessfully took on Trump in the Republican presidential primary.
In March, after Haley dropped out of the race, Collins revealed she did not plan on voting for Trump. “I don’t think it should surprise anyone,” said Collins, who previously voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.
On Friday, she doubled down and shared her plan to vote for Haley to a photojournalist for CBS and Fox based in Portland, Maine.
Her comments come just days before the Republican National Convention is set to begin in Milwaukee, at which point the party will formally select Trump as its nominee.
Trump is also expected to announce his running mate next week during the convention.
Despite Collins’ intention to write-in Haley’s name, the former South Carolina governor released all 97 of her delegates earlier this week and instructed them to support Trump at the party’s convention next week.
“The nominating convention is a time for Republican unity,” Haley said in a statement on Tuesday. “Joe Biden is not competent to serve a second term and Kamala Harris would be a disaster for America. We need a president who will hold our enemies to account, secure our border, cut our debt, and get our economy back on track. I encourage my delegates to support Donald Trump next week in Milwaukee.”
Haley suspended her campaign in early March after she underperformed on Super Tuesday. While she initially declined to endorse Trump, she made clear just two months later that she plans to vote for the former president in November.