Activists call for boycotting the entire state of Maine over Susan Collins' 'yes' vote on Kavanaugh

In the wake of Sen. Susan Collins' (R-Maine) vote to confirm U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, activists are calling for a boycott against the entire state of Maine out of retaliation.

What are the details?

Collins has already endured weeks of threats and intimidation leading up to Kavanaugh's confirmation, because those who opposed the justice's nomination saw the Maine lawmaker as a Republican who could be persuaded to vote against Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Collins announced her decision to support Kavanaugh's confirmation on the Senate floor on Friday, and lawmakers voted 50-48 in favor of confirming Kavanaugh the next day.

But after a failed bribery scheme and multiple threats against her office, activists have upped the ante with calls to boycott the entire state of Maine until Collins is out of office.

The Portland Press Herald reported that the boycott initiative gained momentum on social media when actor and comedian John Fugelsang tweeted on Friday, "Dear Susan Collins - I really struggled with this but my tourist $ just voted against ever visiting Maine while you remain in office."

Fugelsang later deleted the tweet, but by that time it had already gone viral thanks to his 413,000 followers. By Monday, the Press Herald reported that Fugelsang's tweet had been liked 22,000 times and retweeted 5,000.

What are the Twitter users saying?

Hundreds of Twitter users weighed in, including chefs vowing to stop buying Maine seafood, and countless others saying they would no longer vacation in The Pine Tree State. But still, others questioned the reasoning behind the ban, noting that 49 other senators voted for Kavanaugh, and a successful boycott of Collins' home state would only hurt its citizens.

This is what upsets me about #boycottmaine....50 senators voted for the Kavanaugh confirmation. If you are going to #boycottmaine, out of principal, don't go to any of the places the other 49 senators are from either. Limit your vacations to Alaska and North Dakota.

— Amy Sowa (@207_amy) October 9, 2018

Please don't boycott Maine. Livelihoods rely on tourism. Wages = stale & not even close to COL. It's hard AF to live here. Please don't make it harder based off what a Senator did. If you do- you have to boycott ALL states that had at least 1 vote for him or you are a hypocrite

— EatLiftRunYoga (@RebelSpicer) October 9, 2018

I don't think #BoycottMaine is going to work, plus it's stupid. Affecting the entire Maine economy because of one persons decision that does not exactly represent the view of all the citizens? Frankly its quite juvenile and stupid.

— DAS RYAN (@chibbsthecat) October 9, 2018

Others suggested donating money to Collins' 2020 opponent rather than boycotting Maine.

Rather than boycott Maine and the Portland Press Herald, donate to her challenger. She comes up for re-election in 2020 and I plan on contributing to her opponent. Word is Susan Rice is considering running against Collins.

— Kasper (@recj50) October 9, 2018

Mark Murrell, the owner of getMainelobster.com, told the Press Herald that he had several customers cancel their orders out of protest following Collins' vote.

He shared an email from one customer who explained, "I've loved your product the two times I've ordered so far. However, due to Senator Collins I can no longer support products from Maine. I hope you can let her know."

While Collins has had to increase security for her offices because of "multiple serious threats," she said at an event on Sunday, "Many people have thanked me for my vote and have said that they were very pleased I did the right thing."