“I was very gratified that the margin was so big — that people were able to look at the individual,” she told Politico. “They were smart enough to reject the outright lies that Chuck Schumer and his PAC have hoisted.”…

Collins has received calls from at least eight Democratic senators so far, including fellow moderate Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who wants more bipartisanship. The two co-chair a group called No Labels with bipartisanship as the goal.

“These were by and large my friends. It wasn’t Chuck Schumer calling me, let’s put it that way,” Collins said. “Some of them told me frankly that they’d been instructed by Chuck to not co-sponsor my bills, not work with me to advance legislation. Now, some of them followed that instruction from him but some did not.”