Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign event on Wednesday, in Orem, Utah. Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

Though she had previously declined to endorse a candidate, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said she has voted for former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley over former President Donald Trump in Maine’s Republican presidential primary.

Collins said Friday that Haley’s experience as a governor and ambassador makes her “extremely qualified” to become the country’s first female president.

“She has the energy, intellect, and temperament that we need to lead our country in these very tumultuous times,” Collins said in an emailed statement issued in response to a question from the Bangor Daily News.

In January, Collins said she would not endorse either Trump or Haley, though she said she was pleased that Haley had chosen to stay in the race, and expected people would be “impressed” the more they see of her.

Collins didn’t endorse Trump in 2016, saying she cast a write-in vote for House Speaker Paul Ryan for president that November. The senator, who also ran for reelection in 2020, declined to say if she voted for Trump.