Augusta, ME – A new report from MeidasTouch News implicates Susan Collins in the “lobbyist pay-to-play pipeline.” According to the report, Collins’ husband Thomas Daffron, a former lobbyist, received a consulting fee last year from his former firm while it was taking an “enormous amount of money” to lobby Congress on behalf of those who have donated to Collins’ campaign, have personal ties to her, or have business before her committee. While Daffron was paid at least $1,000 in 2025 by his old firm, the full amount has not been disclosed.

In reaction to the report, Misha Linnehan, spokesperson for the Maine Democratic Party, released the following statement:

“Washington is full of politicians using their positions of power to make money for themselves, and Susan Collins is no exception. Collins needs to come clean to Mainers – what was her husband doing for this firm last year, how much money was he paid, and isn’t it a conflict of interest for him to be working on behalf of companies whose executives are shoveling cash into his wife’s campaign?”

Read more here:

MeidasTouch News: Susan Collins Was Paid Directly by a Lobbyist for Her Campaign Donors Through a ‘Consulting Fee’ to Her Husband

By Troy Matthews

August 24, 2026

• Sen. Susan Collins’ (R-ME) husband accepted a payment in the form of a “consulting fee” from his former lobbying firm which has recently represented clients who have donated to her re-election, have personal ties to her, and/or have had business before her committee.

• Collins has been married to Thomas Daffron, a former “highly valued” lobbyist in Maine, since 2012. Daffron is the former Executive Vice President of lobbying firm Chesapeake Enterprises.

• In 2020, after it was reported that Daffron had represented companies that had received millions of dollars in federal contracts while Collins’ has been in the Senate, Collins’ campaign brushed aside the criticism by reporting that Daffron was no longer a lobbyist and had “retired.”

• But financial disclosures revealed that Daffron was paid at least $1,000 as a “consulting fee” by Chesapeake Enterprises in 2025. The exact amount he was paid is not known because disclosure requirements only state he must declare any amount $1,000 and up. […]

• Chesapeake Enterprises in the last year has taken in an enormous amount of money to lobby Congress on behalf of companies and individuals that have ties to Susan Collins and/or donated to Collins’ re-election campaign […]

• Susan Collins’ campaign has repeatedly attacked opponent Democrat Troy Jackson for being a part of the so-called “Augusta establishment” in Maine, but new filings have revealed her campaign in recent years has been deep in the middle of the lobbyist pay-to-play pipeline.