Collins, Susan Margaret, , 1952- , American politician, b. Caribou, Me., St. Lawrence University (BA, 1975). Both of Collins’s parents were involved in politics, with her father serving in the Maine State Senate. Upon graduating from college, she worked as an assistant to William S. Cohen, then a member of the House of Representatives from Maine, from 1975-87. After holding government positions in Maine and Massachusetts, and briefly serving as chair of the Small Business Associate’s Boston office in 1992, she was the first Republican woman to run for Maine’s governorship in 1994, but failed to win that election. In November 1996, she won election to the U.S. Senate, replacing her old mentor, William Cohen, who had retired. She has become a leading voice of moderate Republicans in the Senate, and currently is serving her fifth term in office.
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