Susan Collins, 73, is Maine's senior senator who has represented the state since 1997 and is seeking her sixth term. Born in Caribou, Aroostook County, she is a graduate of St. Lawrence University in New York. Collins began her career as a staff assistant for Senator William Cohen (1975-1987), then served in various Maine administrative roles before being elected to the Senate in 1996. She is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and has served in leadership positions in multiple Senate committees. Collins has built a reputation as a moderate Republican willing to break with her party on key votes, though her voting record shows increasing alignment with Trump administration priorities. She is the only Republican senator representing a state won by Kamala Harris in 2024 and has won all five previous Senate elections, often significantly outperforming other Republicans in Maine.
Collins was born December 7, 1952, in Caribou, Aroostook County, Maine, to Margaret Hinds (a Maine legislator) and Robert Collins (also in government). She is a graduate of St. Lawrence University in New York (1975). She worked as a staff assistant for Senator William Cohen from 1975-1987, including as staff director of the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee. She served as commissioner of Maine's Department of Professional and Financial Regulation (1987-1992), New England regional director of the Small Business Administration (1992), and deputy state treasurer of Massachusetts (1993). She ran for Maine governor in 1994, becoming the first woman nominated by Maine Republicans for that office, but lost. She was first elected to the Senate in 1996 and has been reelected in five subsequent elections, with her 2020 victory coming unexpectedly when polls had predicted her loss.