Susan Margaret Collins (R)*

Current Job:

Businesswoman

Birth Date:

December 7, 1952

Religion:

Catholic

Education:

St. Lawrence University, BA Government

Biography:

Susan M. Collins was born in Caribou, Maine, and resides in Bangor. She received a bachelor's degree in government and graduated from St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., in 1975.

Collins comes from a family with a long and varied background in state politics. Her father, Donald Collins, served in the state Senate and her late uncle, Samuel Collins, served in a state Senate leadership post before serving in the state Supreme Court. Susan Collins' mother, Pat, served as a trustee to the University of Maine System.

Fresh out of St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., Collins worked for Sen. William S. Cohen, 1975-87, before serving in GOP Gov. John McKernan's Cabinet as commissioner of professional and financial regulation, 1987-92.

She was the New England administrator of the Small Business Administration in Boston, 1992-93, and deputy treasurer of the state of Massachusetts for eight months in 1993.

She also served as executive director of the Center for Family Business at Husson College in Bangor.

Collins was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and won re-election in 2002.

She is single.

Profile:

More than a decade after a stinging defeat in a race for Maine governor that saw her withdraw from politics, Susan Collins has prominent roles in the U.S. Senate in homeland security and emergency preparedness issues.

Collins is a ranking member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. She also serves on the Special Committee on Aging Maine has one of the nation's oldest populations.

In her role as the Homeland Security Committee's chair, she received an inspector general's report on the reconstruction effort in Iraq. Collins said the report reflected "a story ... of waste, greed and corruption." The report set the stage for possible policy changes and reforms.

In the same role, Collins also joined Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman in reacting critically to a report showing waste in the recovery effort following Hurricane Katrina.

Collins led efforts in the committee to restructure the Federal Emergency Management Agency following the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. She has also played an active role in ports-security issues that have arisen amid the nation's anti-terrorism effort.

As Congress moved to reshape the nation's security apparatus following the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Collins became lead Republican sponsor of a 2004 intelligence reform act.

Collins also displayed a bipartisan streak on health issues, as she joined two other Republicans and more than 40 Democrats who asked the Bush administration to extend the deadline in 2006 for seniors to enroll in the new Medicare prescription drug program.

She was a key sponsor of ethics reforms, which had the support of top Democrats, following lobbying scandals that came to a head in 2006.

Stung by a poor statewide showing in a gubernatorial run in 1994 and busy with a new job, Susan Collins had given up on running for office.

But in January 1997, she found herself preparing to join fellow Republican Olympia Snowe in representing Maine in the U.S. Senate. She edged Democrat Joseph Brennan, a former governor and congressman, for retiring Republican Sen. William Cohen's seat.

In November 1995, Collins decided not to run for the U.S. House to concentrate on her duties as founding executive director of the new Center for Family Business and director of external and international programs at Husson College.

Just a few weeks later, an opportunity arose: Collins' mentor and one-time boss, Cohen, made the surprise announcement that he would not seek re-election. Collins entered a three-way race for the Republican nomination, the best known of the field but the least well-financed.

Nonetheless, as her two rivals financier Robert Monks and state Sen. John Hathaway became embroiled in a bitter personal battle, Collins remained out of the fray and cruised to a primary election win in June.

In the Senate, Collins has been known to join with like-minded Democrats on occasion.

Collins, who formerly pledged to serve no more than two Senate terms, is running for a third term, portraying herself as a moderate with a history of bipartisanship.

Collins prides herself on never having missed a roll call during her more than 11 years in the Senate, a Cal Ripken-like feat that recalls the record set by the late senator who inspired her political career, Margaret Chase Smith.

In 2005 Collins broke Smith's record of 2,941 votes, a 13-year streak that ended when she underwent hip surgery.

Collins said during her first campaign for the Senate she did not plan to serve more than two terms and thereafter reaffirmed that position when she first sought re-election.

On Oct. 13, 2006, the Sun Journal of Lewiston reported after Collins met with the newspaper's editorial board that Collins confirmed she would seek re-election in 2008.

"I've found that I really underestimated the importance of seniority and how much difference it makes when you are a more senior member," said Collins, who worked for former U.S. Sen. William Cohen for a dozen years after college.

The American Conservative Union gave Collins' 2007 voting record 36 points out of 100. The liberal Americans for Democratic Action gave Collins a 55 point rating.

Campaigns:

Susan Collins was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 defeating Democrat Joe Brennan with 49 percent of the vote.She was re-elected in 2002, winning 59 percent of the vote in her race against Democrat Rochelle "Chellie" Pingree, who served in the state Senate.She won a 1994 eight-way GOP primary race for Maine's gubernatorial nomination with 21 percent of the vote, then finished third in the four-way general election with 23 percent of the vote. The election was won by independent Angus King, with 35 percent, while Democrat Joesph Brennan had 34 percent and the Green party's Jonathan Carter 6.4 percent.