Sen. Susan Collins said she will announce whether she'll run for reelection by the end of this week.

The Maine Republican said she will no longer delay the much-anticipated decision.


“This week, yes,” she confirmed. She declined to say Tuesday what she will announce. "This will be the end of fall, which is what I said."

She will meet her most recent self-imposed deadline for announcing this fall: Winter begins Dec. 21. Maine's filing deadline is in March.

Democrats and Republicans have been watching her reelection timeline evolve with great interest as she’s put off announcing her decision.

Republicans say she’s the only person in the party that can keep who seat in GOP hands; Democrats have privately wondered whether she might retire amid President Donald Trump’s impeachment and Maine’s increasingly blue hue.


Though Collins would likely to face a difficult challenge from establishment-backed state House Speaker Sara Gideon, it would be a shock if Collins did not run for a fifth term.

Collins has been raising money and running ads amid an onslaught of attacks from Democrats and seems eager to prove her brand of bipartisanship can cut through Trump’s divisiveness.