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Telegram: You’re going to join U.S. Sen. Susan Collins for a state party fundraiser today. She’s defended National Security Agency spying programs you oppose, and she’s also running against a Democrat, Shenna Bellows, who comes pretty close to sharing your views on that and other privacy issues. Do you support her, despite disagreement on many of those issues? Rand Paul: I wholeheartedly endorse Senator Collins for re-election. I think she’s doing a great job for Maine and for the country. ... I don’t really know, exactly, what her position is on the NSA; you’d have to ask her about that....

Via Dan Riehl, people are going nuts over this in the Headlines thread but I don’t know why. He’s not endorsing her over some tea-party primary opponent. She has no primary opponent. He’s endorsing her over the Democrat in the race, Shenna Bellows (whose civil-libertarian cred from working at the ACLU evidently gave Paul no pause).Even Jim DeMint, who once said he’d rather have 30 principled conservatives in the Senate than a 60-seat majority of RINOs, saw fit to endorse Scott Brown on the eve of his big special election upset in 2010. If Rand can hold an extra Senate...

Telegram: You’re going to join U.S. Sen. Susan Collins for a state party fundraiser today. She’s defended National Security Agency spying programs you oppose, and she’s also running against a Democrat, Shenna Bellows, who comes pretty close to sharing your views on that and other privacy issues. Do you support her, despite disagreement on many of those issues? Rand Paul: I wholeheartedly endorse Senator Collins for re-election. I think she’s doing a great job for Maine and for the country. ... I don’t really know, exactly, what her position is on the NSA; you’d have to ask her about that....

In the past, Republican primary opponents for Maine's 2nd Congressional District haven't been shy about expressing their criticisms of each other or the political system. But they usually draw a line at recommending that disgruntled voters should elect Democrats instead. Yet, when an audience member at a Thursday evening candidate's debate in Machias rose to criticize Sen. Susan Collins' performance in office, congressional hopeful Bruce Poliquin agreed, saying he shared the speaker's frustration. "We have career politicians who are afraid to solve tough problems," Poliquin said. "I'm a businessperson trying to solve problems. I agree with you - we ought...

PERRY, Maine — Kevin Raye, the Republican nominee in the 2002 race for Congress in the Second District, said Tuesday he does not intend to seek the seat this year, leaving the party without an announced candidate in the race. With five months remaining before the primary and 10 months until the general election, a Republican challenger to freshman U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud has yet to surface. Brian Hamel of Presque Isle, president of the Loring Development Authority, and retired banker Bob Stone of Lewiston are considering the race, said Dwayne Bickford, executive director of the Maine Republican Party. "They´re...