Frenchville resident and Voice of the People radio host Dan Smeriglio calls himself “an activist first,” so he was ready to record when Maine State Republican Party Chairman Jim Deyermond called him for a friendly chat about primary challenge to U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R).
On Friday, Smeriglio, 42, filed with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) as a GOP candidate to challenge long-time incumbent.
Smeriglio, who moved to the Aroostook County town in 2023, posted a partial recording of their conversation on X:
In the conversation, Deyermond says he is “not trying to talk you out of doing anything, I just want to give you the facts … in order to win, you have to raise an awful lot of money to be a serious candidate … and if you’re not a serious candidate, there are things that have to be examined here.”
Smeriglio responds by “calling a spade a spade,” and goes on to make an unpleasant characterization of the senior senator.
Deyermond, who was elected party chairman only last month, responds “believe me, I wish she would do more (to support President Donald Trump), but she’s doing what she has to do to get elected … for me, it’s just a math problem.”
Because Smeriglio only posts partial clips of the conversation, it is difficult to discern its full content or context. At the outset of the clip, it sounds as if Deyermond is responding to a request for advice from the newly filed primary challenger, and he tells Smeriglio that he has talked to at least a few other individuals who were considering launching their own challenges but changed their minds after the math-based conversations.
In addition to the issue of money, Deyermond pointed out that Democrats enjoy the advantage of numbers in Maine, which appears to rationalize why Senator Collins has been more reticent about supporting Trump than others in her caucus.
Deyermond told The Maine Wire that he was in fact responding to Smeriglio’s request for guidance, which is part of his responsibility as state party chairman. His role, he explained, is to prepare for any logistical needs that could arise at the state party convention and to be available for all party members.
Collins picked up another challenger last week, but an independent as opposed to a Republican.
Former SpaceX senior engineer Phillip Rench, 37, who currently owns a farm in Waterboro, announced his candidacy, fueling speculation about whether his one-time boss Elon Musk had any role in encouraging him to do so.
Collins currently chairs the Senate’s powerful Committee on Appropriations.
The last time Collins faced a GOP primary opponent was in her first election in 1996, when she defeated John Hathaway and Bob Monks for the Republican Senate nomination.
