Senator Susan Collins of Maine is not the first Republican — or even the first prominent New England Republican — to rule out voting for Donald Trump.
But the rebuke from the region’s most senior GOP elected official has forced other New England Republicans — at least two of whom face difficult reelection battles this year — into a political corner with continued questions about their support for the party’s controversial presidential nominee.
In recent presidential elections, late summer has offered a chance for parties to heal wounds from the primary, meanwhile trying to rebrand the other party’s nominee as unelectable. This month, however, may be remembered more for Trump’s self-inflicted wounds — and how many Republicans have publicly vowed not to vote for him.
“August is the month when the wheels finally came off the Trump train,’’ said Ryan Williams, a Republican consultant and former Mitt Romney aide. “He continues to put Republicans in a bad spot, and he is forcing Republican candidates running this year to get away from their own messages by having to talk about Trump and to respond to people who are dumping Trump.’’
In an interview with the Globe, Collins said she gave Trump “a lot of chances’’ and hoped “he would be able to turn a new page’’ after the primary. She said she decided not to vote for Trump after he pointedly criticized a Gold Star family, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
“The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back was his attacking the Khans,’’ Collins said. “It bespoke of such a lack of humanity and ability to empathize with the worst thing that could happen to parents, and that for me was just beyond the pale.’’
Collins follows Senators Mark Kirk of Illinois, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska — all Republicans who have also said they will not vote for Trump. Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, another Republican, has said he will not back Trump.
Their moves put pressure on Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire to denounce her support for the GOP nominee — just days after Trump disparaged her and then flipped to endorse her.
Hours after Collins announced that she could not support Trump in a Washington Post op-ed, Ayotte found a national network news crew covering an everyday event for her — a Somersworth, N.H., roundtable commemorating national health center week.
When asked about Trump, Ayotte, who is in a tough reelection battle, maintained her position that she is supporting, though not endorsing, Trump.
“I’m going to continue every day to evaluate my support for anyone,’’ she told reporters. “I’ve said that I’m going to be voting for our nominee, but I’ve also been quite clear when I have disagreements with him, which I will continue to do.’’
Collins and Ayotte are closely linked. Collins’s husband is a Republican consultant who worked on Ayotte’s 2010 Senate campaign . This summer, Collins held a fund-raiser for Ayotte in Maine.
“I am hesitant to give advice to any of my colleagues,’’ Collins said. “I can only decide what is right for me. In this case Donald Trump just crossed the threshold to the point where I had to conclude that he was never going to change, listen, or grow. And he lacks the temperament, knowledge, and restraint to be our president.’’
“I support Kelly,’’ Collins added.
Ayotte is not the only New England Republican facing continued questions about Trump. In Collins’s home state of Maine, Representative Bruce Poliquin, a first-term Republican, tried to avoid the matter altogether Tuesday as he left a Bangor Rotary Club meeting.
“You folks are working so hard to ask me everything that has nothing to do with jobs, the economy, energy prices, welfare reform, and the heroin epidemic we have in our state, fair trade, keeping our families safe,’’ Poliquin said, according to the Bangor Daily News. “That is what I am focusing on. If that’s your only topic, I am going to move on to someone else. Is that your only topic?’’
For Collins and Baker, the decision not to support Trump might be politically easier than it is for others.
Neither Republican is up for reelection this year, and both represent more liberal states than Ayotte’s New Hampshire. (Maine’s governor, Paul LePage, is an ardent Trump supporter.)
Ayotte is locked in a tight reelection race and needs Trump supporters, even as she appeals to independents who aren’t big fans of his.
“It is not clear politically which way Ayotte should go on Trump,’’ said Steve Koczela, president of MassInc Polling Group. “For Collins and Baker, it is easier to leave Trump. Neither are up for reelection this year. Collins has a high approval rating, and Baker can really focus on state issues that have nothing to do with the presidential race.’’
Last week MassInc and WBUR released a poll that showed Ayotte trailing her general election opponent, Governor Maggie Hassan, by 10 points. In that same survey, Trump trailed the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, by 15 points.
In her op-ed, Collins wrote that she is not backing Trump because he “does not reflect historical Republican values nor the inclusive approach to governing that is critical to healing the divisions in our country.’’
Her words were a clear parallel to her political idol, former senator Margaret Chase Smith, who in 1950 issued a “Declaration of Conscience’’ to say she could no longer stay silent against McCarthyism.
When Chase Smith circulated a Declaration of Conscience letter to her colleagues, six other senators signed it, including Senator Charles Tobey of New Hampshire.
Ayotte now serves in his seat.
James Pindell can be reached at james.pindell@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jamespindell or subscribe to his daily e-mail update on the 2016 campaign at www.bostonglobe.com/ groundgame.
