One of six children, Collins was born in Caribou, Maine, where her family operates a lumber business established by her great-great-great-grandfather, Samuel W. Collins, in 1844. Her … See more

Following graduation, Collins worked as a legislative assistant to U.S. Representative and later U.S. Senator William Cohen from 1975 to 1987. She was also staff … See more

Collins has been described as a moderate Republican and a centrist, having voted with her party 59% of the time from 1997 to 2016. She voted with her party more often, about 87% of … See more

Collins is married to Thomas Daffron, a lobbyist who worked as chief operating officer at Jefferson Consulting Group in Washington, D.C. from 2006 to 2016; he consulted on … See more

Elections
Collins was elected to the Senate in 1996. During the campaign she pledged that, if elected, she would serve only two terms.
Collins was reelected in 2002 over State Senator Chellie Pingree, 58%–42%, in 2008 See more

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a lobbying group, awarded Collins the 2013 Spirit of Enterprise Award for her support of its positions.
On May 7, 2014, The National Journal recognized Collins as the senator with "perfect … See more

Collins has been on the general-election ballot six times in Maine: once for governor, five times for U.S. senator. She has been defeated just once, in her 1994 campaign for governor. See more