Susan Collins

Susan Collins
Born	Susan Margaret Collins 7 12, 1952
Birthplace	Caribou, Maine, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Politician
Title	Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee
Known for	Senior United States Senator from Maine; longest-serving Republican woman senator in U.S. history
Education	St. Lawrence University (BA)
Awards	Publius Award (with Joe Manchin)
Website	[https://collins.senate.gov/ Official site]

Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician who has served as the senior United States Senator from Maine since January 3, 1997. A member of the Republican Party, Collins is Maine's longest-serving member of Congress and the longest-serving Republican woman in the history of the United States Senate, having surpassed Margaret Chase Smith—who once held the same Maine Senate seat—in 2021. Born and raised in Caribou, Maine, Collins built a career in government service long before entering elected office, working as a congressional aide, a state regulator, and a federal administrator. Her path to the Senate was shaped in part by an unsuccessful 1994 campaign for governor of Maine, in which she became the first woman to receive a major-party gubernatorial nomination in the state's history. Since 2025, Collins has served as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Often characterized as a moderate Republican, she has frequently been a pivotal swing vote in the closely divided Senate on issues including health care, judicial confirmations, and government spending.

Early Life

Susan Margaret Collins was born on December 7, 1952, in Caribou, Maine, a small city in the northern Aroostook County region of the state. She is the daughter of Donald Collins and Patricia McGuigan. Her uncle, Samuel Collins, was also involved in public life in Maine. Collins grew up in a politically active family; both of her parents served as mayor of Caribou, and her family had deep roots in the community.

Collins's upbringing in rural northern Maine, a region characterized by its lumber and agricultural industries, influenced her pragmatic approach to politics. She has spoken of the bipartisan tradition of her family, noting that political engagement and public service were valued regardless of party affiliation. Her early exposure to government came through observing her parents' involvement in local governance, which she has cited as an inspiration for her own career in public service.

Education

Collins attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. While at St. Lawrence, she participated in a congressional internship program that brought her to Washington, D.C., an experience that proved formative for her subsequent career. During a 1975 internship, she had the opportunity to meet William Cohen, then a first-term Republican congressman from Maine, an encounter that would directly shape the trajectory of her professional life.

Career

Early Government Service (1975–1994)

Collins began her career in Washington, D.C., in 1975 as a staff assistant for U.S. Senator William Cohen of Maine. She worked in Cohen's office for twelve years, rising through the ranks to become a senior policy adviser. In 1981, she was appointed staff director of the Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, a position in which she worked on issues related to government efficiency and regulatory oversight.

In 1987, Maine Governor John R. McKernan Jr. appointed Collins as commissioner of the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, a role in which she oversaw the regulation of financial institutions, insurance companies, and professional licensing boards within the state. She served in this capacity for several years before transitioning to federal service once again.

In 1992, President George H. W. Bush appointed Collins as director of the Small Business Administration's regional office in Boston, where she administered programs for small businesses across the New England region. Following the end of the Bush administration in 1993, Collins became a deputy state treasurer in the office of the treasurer and receiver-general of Massachusetts.

1994 Gubernatorial Campaign

In 1994, Collins returned to Maine and entered the race for governor, securing the Republican nomination. She became the first woman to receive a major-party nomination for governor in the state's history. The general election was a competitive four-way contest. Collins finished third with approximately 23% of the vote. The race was won by independent candidate Angus King, who would later become Collins's colleague in the United States Senate.

Although the gubernatorial campaign was unsuccessful, it raised Collins's profile within the Maine Republican Party and established her as a credible candidate for statewide office. Following her gubernatorial bid, Collins became the founding director of the Center for Family Business at Husson University in Bangor, Maine.

United States Senate

Election to the Senate (1996)

Collins ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996 following the retirement of her former employer, Senator William Cohen, who was subsequently appointed Secretary of Defense by President Bill Clinton. Collins won the election and took office on January 3, 1997. She has been reelected every six years since, winning races in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020.

Committee Leadership

Throughout her Senate tenure, Collins has held several significant committee leadership positions. From 2003 to 2007, she served as chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, where she played a role in shaping legislation related to national security in the years following the September 11 attacks. She subsequently served as the committee's ranking member from 2007 to 2013.

Collins served as ranking member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging from 2013 to 2015, and then as chair of that committee from 2015 to 2021. In that capacity, she focused on issues affecting older Americans, including health care, retirement security, and fraud prevention.

Beginning in January 2023, Collins served as vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, succeeding Richard Shelby. In January 2025, she became chair of the Appropriations Committee, succeeding Patty Murray. As chair, Collins wields significant influence over federal spending decisions. Recent reporting has documented her use of this position to direct earmarks and community project funding to Maine, with the state receiving a disproportionately large share of such allocations relative to its population.

Legislative Record and Key Votes

Collins has developed a reputation as one of the most moderate members of the Republican caucus in the Senate. Her voting record has frequently placed her at the center of consequential legislative battles, particularly on issues where a small number of Republican defections could determine outcomes.

Health Care: Collins was one of three Republican senators to vote against a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2017, a vote that effectively preserved the law. Her stance on the ACA has remained a subject of political debate in Maine; as of 2026, her Democratic opponents have scrutinized her broader record of votes on the health care law.

Judicial Confirmations: Collins's votes on Supreme Court nominations have attracted significant national attention. She voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States in 2018, a decision that drew substantial scrutiny from reproductive rights advocates and other groups given her stated support for abortion rights. Kavanaugh subsequently joined the majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022), which overturned Roe v. Wade. Collins was the sole Republican senator to vote against the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. She was also one of three Republican senators to vote in favor of confirming Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

Campaign Finance Reform: Early in her Senate career, Collins was involved in efforts to reform campaign finance laws. In 1997, she was among the senators who endorsed a campaign inquiry with a broader scope than initially proposed.

Reproductive Rights: Collins has identified as a pro-choice Republican. In 1997, she was among senators involved in deliberations over legislation to ban a particular abortion procedure, with the Senate lacking a veto-proof majority for the measure. Despite her pro-choice identification, Collins voted against the Women's Health Protection Act, which sought to codify abortion rights into federal law.

Filibuster and Senate Procedure: Collins has maintained consistent support for the 60-vote threshold for major legislation in the Senate, arguing that the filibuster encourages bipartisan compromise and protects the rights of the minority party.

Immigration: In early 2026, Collins engaged directly with the Trump administration on immigration enforcement in Maine. She announced that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had agreed to cease enhanced ICE operations in Maine following Collins's direct intervention. The announcement became a subject of political maneuvering, with Democratic candidates seeking to challenge Collins for her Senate seat in 2026 disputing her characterization of the events and her role in the outcome.

Position as New England's Last Republican Senator

Collins holds a distinctive position within the Republican Party as one of only two Republicans representing a Northeastern state in the United States Senate, alongside Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania. She has been the sole New England Republican in the Senate since the 116th Congress. She is also, since 2019, the only Republican holding statewide elected office in the state of Maine.

2026 Political Landscape

As of early 2026, Collins faces a competitive political environment ahead of her anticipated reelection campaign. Maine Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, has been actively laying the groundwork for a potential Senate challenge. At a campaign event in Portland in January 2026, Mills criticized Collins's record on the Affordable Care Act and other issues. Political coverage has noted the emergence of several potential challengers, including Graham Platner, whose rapid rise in Democratic politics in Maine has drawn national attention. Additionally, Bangor resident Andrea LaFlamme, who gained attention for writing abortion rights messages in chalk outside Collins's home, announced a longshot Senate campaign in February 2026.

In late February 2026, it was reported that Collins planned to attend President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, in contrast to some of Maine's other members of Congress, including Senator Angus King and Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, who announced they would not be attending.

Personal Life

Collins married Thomas Daffron, a longtime friend, in a small ceremony in Caribou, Maine, in August 2012. Daffron is a Washington, D.C., lobbyist and consultant who previously worked as chief operating officer of Jefferson Consulting Group.

Collins is a Roman Catholic.

Collins maintains residences in both Bangor, Maine, and Washington, D.C. She is the dean of Maine's congressional delegation, having served longer than any other current member of Congress from the state.

Recognition

Collins has received recognition from various organizations for her legislative work and bipartisan approach. She and Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia were jointly honored with the Publius Award by the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, in recognition of their efforts to promote bipartisan cooperation in the Senate.

In 2017, Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, named Collins among its honorands at its commencement ceremony, alongside Geoffrey Canada, Wanda Corn, and actor Patrick Dempsey.

Collins's consecutive Senate election victories in a state that has trended toward Democratic candidates in presidential elections have been noted by political analysts as evidence of her personal political brand and cross-party appeal among Maine voters.

Legacy

In 2021, Collins became the longest-serving Republican woman in the history of the United States Senate, surpassing the record previously held by Margaret Chase Smith, who represented Maine in the Senate from 1949 to 1973 and who held the same Senate seat that Collins now occupies. The parallel between the two Maine senators has been a frequent subject of commentary; both Smith and Collins were known for their independent streaks within the Republican Party, and both have represented a tradition of moderate Republicanism in New England.

Collins's role as a frequent swing vote in the Senate has made her one of the most consequential members of the chamber during periods of narrow partisan margins. Her votes on health care, judicial nominations, and government spending have at various points shaped major national policy outcomes. Her willingness to break with her party on selected issues—while maintaining her Republican affiliation throughout her career—has made her a subject of both praise and criticism from across the political spectrum.

As chair of the Appropriations Committee, Collins holds one of the most powerful positions in the Senate, with oversight of the federal government's discretionary spending. Her tenure in this role, beginning in 2025, positions her as a central figure in congressional debates over fiscal policy during a period of significant political division.

Collins's status as the only Republican holding statewide office in Maine, and one of only two Republican senators from the Northeastern United States, reflects broader realignment trends within American politics, as the Republican Party's geographic base has shifted away from the Northeast. Her continued electoral viability in Maine represents a notable exception to this pattern.