Susan Collins

Described as

United States Senator from Maine since 1997

Other names

Susan Margaret Collins, Senator Susan Collins, Sen. Susan Collins, Sen. Collins, Senator Collins

Born

December 7, 1952 · 2 references

Born in

Caribou

Name at birth

Susan Margaret Collins

Citizen of

United States

Occupation

politician · 1 reference; congressional staff (1975–1987) · 1 reference; director (1992) · 1 reference

Positions held

Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts (1993) · 1 reference; United States senator (1997–) · 1 reference

Political party

Republican Party

Education

St. Lawrence University (–1975) · 1 reference

Member of

Phi Beta Kappa Society

Awards

Maine Women's Hall of Fame (2011) · 1 reference; BBC 100 Women (2024) · 1 reference

Father

Donald Collins

Mother

Patricia M. Collins

Religion

Catholicism · 1 reference; Roman Catholic

Website

https://www.collins.senate.gov · 1 reference

Wikipedias with a page

49

Wikidata item Q22279 (wikidata.org/wiki/Q22279), public domain (CC0). Copied November 14, 2026.

Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician who has served since 1997 as a United States senator for Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she is Maine's longest-serving member of Congress and the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate.
Born in Caribou, Maine, Collins is a graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. Beginning her career as a staff assistant for Senator William Cohen in 1975, she became staff director of the Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Affairs in 1981. Governor John R. McKernan Jr. then appointed her commissioner of the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation in 1987. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush appointed her director of the Small Business Administration's regional office in Boston. Collins became a deputy state treasurer in the office of the Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts in 1993. After moving back to Maine in 1994, she became the Republican nominee for governor of Maine in the 1994 general election. She was the first female major-party nominee for the post, finishing third in a four-way race with 23% of the vote. After that, she became the founding director of the Center for Family Business at Husson University.
Collins was first elected to the Senate in 1996 and was reelected four times until losing to Democrat Troy Jackson in 2026. She chaired the Senate Special Committee on Aging from 2015 to 2021 and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs from 2003 to 2007. Collins is the dean of Maine's congressional delegation and was the only New England Republican in the 116th through 119th Congresses. She is one of only two Republicans representing a Northeastern state in the Senate. From 2019 until 2026, she was the only Republican holding statewide office in Maine. In 2021, Collins became the longest-serving Republican female senator in history, surpassing Margaret Chase Smith, who held the same Senate seat.
Generally seen as a moderate Republican, Collins is often a pivotal vote in the Senate. She was one of three Republicans to vote against a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act. She was the sole Republican to vote against confirming Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and one of three to vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson. Meanwhile, as a pro-choice Republican, Collins drew scrutiny for her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, who joined the majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. In procedural issues, she has maintained her support for the 60-vote Senate threshold, arguing for bipartisan compromise and preserving the filibuster.
During the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton, Collins was one of the few Republican senators who voted to acquit him on both charges. During the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump, Collins joined most other Senate Republicans in voting to acquit on both charges. In his second impeachment trial, she was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict Trump of incitement of insurrection.

Born, in its opening lines

December 7, 1952

From the Wikipedia article “Susan Collins” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Collins), by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Copied November 14, 2026; not changed.