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Maine Sen. Susan Collins said Wednesday she will vote to confirm聽Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, giving Democrats at least one Republican vote and all but ensuring that Judge Jackson will become the first Black woman on聽the Supreme Court.

Senator Collins met with Judge Jackson a second time this week after聽four days of hearings聽last week and said Wednesday that 鈥渟he possesses the experience, qualifications, and integrity to serve as an associate justice on the Supreme Court.鈥�

鈥淚 will, therefore, vote to confirm her to this position,鈥� Senator Collins said.

Senator Collins鈥� support gives Democrats at least a one-vote cushion in the 50-50 Senate and likely saves them from having to use Vice President Kamala Harris鈥� tie-breaking vote to confirm聽President Joe Biden鈥檚 pick. Senate Democratic leaders are pushing toward a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on the nomination Monday and a final Senate vote to confirm Judge Jackson late next week.

President Biden called Senator Collins on Wednesday to thank her after her announcement, according to the senator鈥檚 office. The president had called her at least three times before the hearings, part of a larger push to win a bipartisan vote for his historic pick.

Judge Jackson, who would replace聽retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, would be the third Black justice, after Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and the sixth woman. She would also be the first聽former public defender聽on the court.

It is expected that聽all 50 Democrats聽will support her, though one notable moderate Democrat, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, hasn鈥檛 yet said how she will vote.

Senator Collins was the most likely Republican to support Judge Jackson, and she has a history of voting for Supreme Court nominees picked by presidents of both parties, as well as other judicial nominations.

The only Supreme Court nominee she鈥檚聽voted against聽since her election in the mid-1990s is聽Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was nominated by then-President Donald Trump after聽the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg聽in the weeks before Mr. Trump鈥檚 election defeat聽to Mr. Biden in 2020. Senator Collins, who was up for reelection that year, said she voted against Justice Barrett because of聽the accelerated six-week timeline. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a comment on her,鈥� Senator Collins said of Justice Barrett at the time.

In her statement supporting Judge Jackson, the Maine senator said she doesn鈥檛 expect that she will always agree with聽Judge Jackson鈥檚 decisions.

鈥淭hat alone, however, is not disqualifying,鈥� Senator Collins said. 鈥淚ndeed, that statement applies to all six justices, nominated by both Republican and Democratic presidents, whom I have voted to confirm.鈥�

Senator Collins said she believes the process is 鈥渂roken鈥� as it has become increasingly divided along party lines. When Senator Collins first came to the Senate, Supreme Court confirmations were much more bipartisan. Justice Breyer, who will step down this summer, was confirmed on an 87-9 vote in 1994.

鈥淚n my view, the role the Constitution clearly assigns to the Senate is to examine the experience, qualifications, and integrity of the nominee,鈥� Senator Collins said. 鈥淚t is not to assess whether a nominee reflects the ideology of an individual senator or would rule exactly as an individual senator would want.鈥�

In聽Judge Jackson鈥檚 hearings, several Republican senators interrogated her on聽sentencing decisions聽in her nine years as a federal judge and in child pornography cases in particular. The senators, several of whom are eyeing a run for president, asked the same questions repeatedly in an effort to paint her as too lenient on sex criminals.

Judge聽Jackson told the committee that 鈥渘othing could be further from the truth鈥� and explained her sentencing decisions in detail. She said some of the cases have given her nightmares and were 鈥渁mong the worst that I have seen.鈥�

Senator Collins told reporters after her announcement that they discussed many of the cases that were brought up at the hearings in an hourlong meeting on Tuesday and 鈥淚 had no doubt that she applies a very careful approach to the facts of the case when she is judging.鈥�

It is unclear if any other GOP senators will vote for聽Judge Jackson. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell set the tone for the party last week when he said he 鈥渃annot and will not鈥� support her, citing the GOP concerns raised in the hearing about her sentencing record and her support from liberal advocacy groups.

Judge聽Jackson is still making the rounds in the Senate ahead of next week鈥檚 votes, doing customary meetings with Democratic and Republican senators. On Tuesday she met with Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who said afterward that he was undecided about supporting her.

Senator Romney said he had an 鈥渆xcellent meeting鈥� and found聽Judge Jackson to be intelligent, capable, and charming. He said he probably won鈥檛 decide whether to vote for her until the day of the vote.

Senator Romney voted against Judge聽Jackson last year, when she was confirmed by the Senate as a federal appeals court judge. Senator Collins, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham were the only three Republicans to support her at the time.

Senator Murkowski and Senator Graham have each indicated they might not vote for her a second time. Senator Murkowski said in a statement before the hearings that 鈥淚鈥檝e been clear that previously voting to confirm an individual to a lower court does not signal how I will vote for a Supreme Court justice.鈥�

Senator Graham was one of several Republicans on the Judiciary panel who pressed Judge聽Jackson on the child pornography cases, and he has been vocal in his frustrations that President Biden chose Judge聽Jackson over his preferred candidate, a federal judge from South Carolina.

He also aired past grievances in the hearing, asking Judge聽Jackson about her religion and how often she goes to church, in heated comments that he said were fair game after unfair criticism of Justice Barrett鈥檚 Catholicism.

Also Wednesday, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he will not support聽Judge Jackson, further indication that the Judiciary panel will likely deadlock 11-11 at its Monday vote on whether to recommend her confirmation to the full Senate.

A deadlocked vote means Democrats will have to spend additional hours on the Senate floor next week to do a 鈥渄ischarge鈥� from committee.

Still, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this week that the Senate is 鈥渙n track鈥� to confirm her by the end of next week and before a two-week Spring recess.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽AP writers Alan Fram, Lisa Mascaro, and Darlene Superville and video journalist Rick Gentilo in Washington and David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.