A man canvassing on behalf of embattled GOP Sen. Susan Collins was caught on camera swiping a package from a home he visited.
A video circulating on social media showed a man wearing a shirt bearing the name of Stronger Maine, a super PAC supporting the 73-year-old senator, nabbing a homeowner’s package from their doorstep before running away.
The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday that the “package thief/political campaigner” had been identified and that charges were forthcoming, but did not share the man’s name.
Sheriff Joel Merry told the Bangor Daily News that the man had not been arrested yet and that the investigation remains active.
“We’re making good progress,” he told the local news outlet.
Woolwich resident Mare Cressey, the crook’s victim, first shared Ring camera footage of the thief on Facebook on Wednesday, saying the incident occurred around 4 p.m.
“I had a package delivered around 2:30 this afternoon and about an hour and a half later, this ‘SUSAN COLLINS’ DOOR IDIOT decided he needed my package more than I did… and left the flyer hanging on my door…. REALLY DUDE!!!!!” Cressey wrote in the post.
Several others on social media noted that the man had also appeared at their homes.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Collins’ office and Stronger Maine for comment.
Collins’ campaign spokesperson Blake Kernen told the Bangor Daily News that the man “is not and has never been an employee or a volunteer of the Collins for Senator campaign.”
A source who has worked with Stronger Maine told the Bangor Daily News that the PAC fired the canvasser immediately upon learning of the incident and reached out to Cressey to reimburse her for her stolen package.
Democrats view Collins’ seat as prime real estate to help flip the Senate blue.
The senior Republican senator is facing off against Democrat Troy Jackson, a former president of the Maine Senate, after progressive Graham Platner withdrew from the race in July amid a series of sexual assault allegations, which he denied.
Collins and Jackson are neck and neck, with the latest Quantus Insights poll showing the two within a single percentage point.
Collins has occasionally clashed with President Donald Trump, leading the 80-year-old president to say she was “not my best friend at all.”
“Republicans, when in doubt, vote the exact opposite of Senator Susan Collins,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this year. “Generally speaking, you can’t go wrong.”
