“While it is my intention to run for re-election, I won’t be making a final decision until closer to 2020. As we begin a new year, I’m focused on my job in the Senate,” Collins told NEWS CENTER Maine Thursday, Jan. 3.

Sen. Susan Collins isn't making any firm decisions about whether she will run for re-election in 2020.

“While it is my intention to run for re-election, I won’t be making a final decision until closer to 2020. As we begin a new year, I’m focused on my job in the Senate,” Collins told NEWS CENTER Maine Thursday, Jan. 3.

The Senator's communications director, Annie Clark, said their team has begun laying the groundwork for an election run in 2020 but only if Collins decides to go for what would be her fifth term in the U.S. Senate.

“We’ve already begun laying the groundwork and are preparing to run a vigorous campaign, should Senator Collins decide to run,” said Clark.

Sen. Collins’ interview with Time Magazine quoted her as saying “that is my intention,” when asked if she plans to run for re-election in 2020.

Collins is currently serving her fourth consecutive term in the U.S. Senate, a run which began in 1996 after incumbent Republican Senator William Cohen decided to retire instead of seek a fourth term.

Former National Security Adviser and UN Ambassador Susan Rice suggested in October that she may run against Collins in 2020, after Collins faced pushback for supporting the now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose nomination was highly controversial.

Collins was dismissive of Rice as a potential challenger during an appearance on CNN, saying "as far as Susan Rice is concerned, her family has a home in Maine, but she doesn’t live in the state of Maine. Everybody knows that.”

Rice says her ties to the Pine Tree State “are long and deep.” Her grandparents came to Maine in 1912 from Jamaica, and Rice says she has owned a home in Maine for "20-so years."