Lubec has become the focal point of two opposing campaign advertisements hoping to sway voters considering U.S. Senator Susan Collins' reelection bid. One has aired, and the filming has been completed for the other. Both events put on camera community members who were brought to the separate events by invitation.
     Senator Collins visited the town on Friday, January 3, in what was billed as a "meet and greet," primarily attended by about 30 members of the local fishing community who gathered to thank her for her work to secure $19.6 million in federal funding for the Safe Harbor project. Her entourage included a five-person film crew that recorded activities inside the town office and also conducted on‑camera interviews near the waterfront. Most participants were Lubec residents, and three members of the town's select board attended, although at different times. Collins' Lubec meeting followed a visit to Eastport.
     On December 12, Maine Momentum and The 16 Counties Coalition filmed a commercial inside a local business establishment; the ad questioned Collins' support for small businesses. Maine Momentum Executive Director Willy Ritch directed the session, which included scripted on‑camera comments by business owners Gale White and McGinley Jones. The 30‑second ad decried the senator's vote to reduce federal taxes on large corporations. The ad angered some Lubec residents by its use of drone footage spotlighting the town name emblazoned on the water storage tank, which they claimed implies that the town supports the ad's message. That ad did not promote any electoral opponent but held that the shift in taxes is intended to benefit large corporations and political donors. The December event attracted about 20 Lubec residents, including one member of the select board.
     During her January visit to the town office, after an enthusiastic welcome Collins spoke on several topics. The new China trade agreement, she said, will benefit fishermen as it specifically requires the Chinese to "buy more lobster," pointing out that the recent tariff war had reduced such exports. She compared the local fishing community to the logging industry, which she said is often passed down "generation after generation after generation." Regarding the Safe Harbor project, she said, "I hope we never have to enter another name on the memorial." She also spoke of her initiative to address prescription drug prices, particularly insulin.
     Collins described how, as she was being driven to a recent meeting, she received a telephone call from Vice President Mike Pence. When she told the group, "He told me that it was important that we describe the killing of [Iranian Major‑General Qassim] Suleimani as a major victory, that he was plotting to kill even more Americans," the crowd erupted in applause.
     Following the senator's comments in the town office, she moved down to the Lost Fishermen's Memorial, where Safe Harbor Committee Chair Julie Keene pointed out names that she knew, with the film crew recording the conversation. Also present in that discussion were Lubec Select Board Chair Carol Dennison -- a member of the Safe Harbor Committee -- and Eastport resident Robert Peacock.
     The film crew also conducted interviews with Maine Marine Patrol Sergeant Russell Wright and separately Keene. Wright was asked to describe the expected benefit from the construction of the Safe Harbor breakwater; he spoke of the sheltered space allowing safer operations and also reduced response time when an accident occurs, as the rescue boat will be docked within the breakwater. "A few minutes' difference can mean a life," he said. A tearful Keene spoke of lives lost and future lives saved, proclaiming Collins "our savior" and describing the acceptance of the project "a miracle."
     At the conclusion of the Keene interview the film crew director said, "We have enough." In a conversation prior to the two interviews, he observed, "It's tough to boil it down to 30 seconds, but we'll get it there."