Susan Collins is the junior Republican senator from Maine. She won her 2008 re-election campaign against Democrat Tom Allen.

Collins jumped right into politics following her graduation from St. Lawrence University by working for then-Senator William Cohen. In the late 1980s, she served as chair of the commission on financial regulation in Maine.

Collins attempted an unsuccessful run for governor of Maine in 1994; two years later, she won a seat in the Senate. She is a ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and also belongs to the committees on Armed Forces and Aging. In January 2009 so was appointed to the Appropriations Committee.MaineToday: Maine's Sen. Collins Lands Seat on Appropriations Panel (January 21, 2009)

Collins is a moderate Republican. She has voted against banning same-sex marriage and restricting travel to Cuba. She was co-author of the Collins-Lieberman Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.

• MaineToday: Maine's Sen. Collins Lands Seat on Appropriations Panel (January 21, 2009)

• Committee Site: Susan M. Collins, Ranking Member

• Committee Site: Susan Collins, Republican Member

• 1952, December 7: Born

• 1975-1987: Worked for future Secretary of Defense William Cohen

• 1994: Republican candidate for the gubernatorial election

• 1997: Assumed U.S. Senate office

• 2002: Voted in favor of Iraq War Resolution and re-elected to the U.S. Senate

• 2003: Voted against Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act

• 2007: Announced plans to run for re-election to the Senate in 2008

• • This page was created by Margie, a Part Time Guide in the Mahalo Greenhouse (see the original), mentored by Marcand and curated by Dean.

• If you'd like to help us create the best spam free search results on the Internet, apply to be a Part Time Guide!</em>