NAPLES, Fla. — The most senior Republican woman in the United States Senate made a stop in Naples Friday. Senator Susan Collins of Maine spoke at an event for the Women's Republican Club of Naples.
Collins cast one of the deciding votes in the difficult confirmation proceedings of Brett Kavanugh - who was accused of molesting a woman when he was a teen - to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Collins said she hopes that the controversial experience will make Washington re-think the confirmation process for justices in the future.
"I was very disappointed in how dysfunctional the nomination process has become," Collins told Fox 4. "It really was a circus."
"My hope is that we have finally hit rock-bottom in the way Justice Kavanaugh was treated, and that we can take a hard look at the confirmation process," she added.
Collins said that if the process doesn't improve, she fears that good judges will shy away from Supreme Court nominations.
Some supporters of abortion rights, and who opposed Kavanaugh's nomination, have said Collins' confidence in the new Justice is misplaced.
But Collins, who also supports abortion rights, felt vindicated after Kavanaugh voted that the Supreme Court not take on two cases that aimed to defund Planned Parenthood - a group that strongly objected to his nomination.
"I'm sure it was tough to put aside all the vitriol that emanated from Planned Parenthood, and yet he did so and I commend him for that," Collins said.
In her remarks to the Women's Republican Club, Collins commended Florida voters for electing a number of women to state offices - including Lieutenant Governor-Elect Jeanette Nunez, who made the drive from the Miami area to hear Collins speak.
