Susan Collins

Susan Margaret Collins is a Republican politician who has served as the senior United States Senator from Maine since 1997. Born and raised in Caribou, Maine, she graduated magna cum laude from St. Lawrence University in 1975. Her career in public service began as a staff assistant to Senator William Cohen, and she later served as the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. In 1992, she was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as a regional director for the Small Business Administration before serving as the founding director of the Center for Family Business at Husson University. First elected to the Senate in 1996 to succeed William Cohen, Collins has established a reputation as a moderate and a key swing vote in the chamber. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and is the most senior Republican woman in the Senate. Her legislative career is marked by a focus on national security, healthcare, and economic development; notably, she has maintained a record of never missing a roll-call vote since her first term began. She was re-elected for a fifth term in 2020, making her the first Republican woman to achieve that milestone in the U.S. Senate.

Senator Collins is known for a centrist political platform. On healthcare, she voted against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act in 2017 and supports bipartisan measures to lower insurance premiums and prescription drug costs. She identifies as pro-choice and has expressed support for codifying abortion rights into federal law, though she has also voted to confirm several conservative judicial nominees. Regarding the economy, she supported the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 but has frequently collaborated with Democrats on infrastructure investment and small business support, such as the Paycheck Protection Program. On environmental issues, she acknowledges the role of human activity in climate change and advocates for clean energy investment and land conservation. In foreign policy, she supports maintaining strong international alliances, including NATO, and providing aid to allies such as Ukraine and Israel.