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Candidate record

Susan M. Collins

Current U.S. senator for Maine, serving since January 1997 and seeking a sixth term. Campaign affiliation: Republican.

Voter guide

Background, stated goals, record, and money

Background comes from official records, and from the campaign's own biography where the bullet says so; goals are summarized from the campaign's own platform and stay attributed; the record lines are official actions with the government source attached; money is shown as filed, with the filing window and the reconciliation in the note under the table, and is not evidence of why any position was taken.

Susan M. Collins

Background

  • Maine's senior U.S. senator, a Republican; Congress.gov records her in every Congress since January 1997. She is seeking a sixth term. Congress.gov, Collins for Senator
  • Her campaign says she chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and also sits on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Intelligence Committee. Collins for Senator
  • Before the Senate, her campaign says, she worked for Representative and later Senator Bill Cohen, was Maine's Commissioner of Professional and Financial Regulation, and ran the Small Business Administration's regional office. Collins for Senator

What they say they want to do

  • Health care that is more affordable and accessible for families, seniors and people in rural Maine. Collins for Senator
  • A $35 monthly cap on insulin for people with private or employer insurance, through the INSULIN Act. Collins for Senator
  • Wider access to workforce training, so Mainers can secure good-paying jobs. Collins for Senator
  • Keeping Maine's seat at the head of the Appropriations Committee, which her campaign calls an influential seat at the table. Collins for Senator
  • Keeping the government funded, including the Department of Homeland Security, in the words of her campaign's spokesman. Collins for Senator

What the official record shows

  • Voted Yea on Senate passage of H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, 76 to 20; it became Public Law 118-273 on January 5, 2025. U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov
  • Voted Nay on Senate passage of H.R. 1, the 2025 reconciliation act, which passed 51 to 50 on the Vice President's vote and became Public Law 119-21. U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov
  • Voted Yea on Senate passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, 71 to 29; it became Public Law 119-75 on February 3, 2026. U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov
  • Cast her 10,000th consecutive roll-call vote, which the majority and minority leaders marked on the floor; she voted Yea on Roll Call 147, the vote the minority leader said would be her 10,000th. U.S. Government Publishing Office
  • Introduced the Reproductive Choice Act with Lisa Murkowski, to write the core holdings of Roe v. Wade and Casey into federal law. In 2023 she joined Tim Kaine, Murkowski and Kyrsten Sinema on the Reproductive Freedom for All Act. Neither bill got past committee. Congress.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov

Campaign money from other committees, by type

Transfers and contributions from joint fundraising committees 10 committees$4,281,989
Corporation PACs 99 committees$386,200
Leadership PACs 39 committees$330,500
Trade Association PACs 45 committees$212,000
PAC - Qualified 20 committees$108,100
Party committees 1 committee$62,000
Membership Organization PACs 17 committees$57,750
Committees the FEC records no type for 12 committees$49,000
Hybrid PAC (with Non-Contribution Account) - Qualified 5 committees$27,000
Labor Organization PACs 5 committees$16,500
Corporation w/o capital stock PACs 3 committees$9,500
PAC - Nonqualified 2 committees$5,000

Source: Federal Election Commission, Federal Election Commission

Receipts from political committees on lines 11B (party committees), 11C (other political committees) and 12 (transfers from joint fundraising committees) of her committee's 2025-2026 cycle filings through June 30, 2026, grouped by the FEC's recorded organization type or designation of the giving committee. The party row is line 11B, $62,000.00 from one committee. The joint fundraising row is $4,281,989.20 reported on line 12 from ten committees; the other rows, $1,201,550.00, are line 11C. Each line's itemized rows sum to the committee's own summary total for that line to the cent, and the table totals $5,545,539.20. Memo entries are left out because they restate money counted elsewhere: 2,312 on line 12 itemize what the joint fundraising committees passed on, and 5 on line 11C. Not in the table: contributions from individuals, including any made through WinRed or ActBlue, which are individual contributions and not committee money. The rows sum to 5,545,539.20 dollars.

Words and record

Where statements meet the record

Each card is labeled narrowly, by rule, and states its own limit.

Susan M. Collins

Social Security: the Fairness Act

Matches stated record claim

What they say

Her campaign calls her the author of the Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in 2025, and says more than 25,000 Mainers have since had their earned benefits restored.

“As the author of the Social Security Fairness Act which was signed into law in 2025, Susan is the leader in the Senate for Social Security.”

Source: Collins for Senator

What the record shows ·

The Act was introduced in the Senate in every Congress from 2003 to 2023, and the text of every version as introduced names her: first after the sponsor in ten of those eleven Congresses, on Dianne Feinstein's bills of 2003 to 2009, John Kerry's of 2011 and Sherrod Brown's of 2015 to 2023, and third on Mark Begich's of 2013. Before that, in November 2001, she was the first senator to cosponsor Feinstein's 2001 version, S. 1523. The Congressional Record of February 11, 2003 prints her saying she was pleased to join Feinstein in introducing it. No version names her as sponsor. The measure that became law was the House bill, H.R. 82, sponsored by Representative Garret Graves; in the Senate debate she thanked Brown for his leadership and said they had championed the bill together for several years. She voted Yea when the Senate passed it 76 to 20 in the sitting that began December 20, 2024 (Roll Call 338), and it became Public Law 118-273 on January 5, 2025.

Sources: Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office, U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov

Limit: The label reads author as the record shows her role: for twenty years she introduced the bill beside its sponsor, which is a co-author's part. The record does not make her its only author. Each Senate version was another senator's bill, and the one that became law was the House's. Her campaign's FAQ lists the Act among legislation she authored or co-authored, which is the closer description. The figure of 25,000 Mainers is the Social Security Administration's to publish and is not checked here.

Susan M. Collins

The Paycheck Protection Program: who wrote it

Matches stated record claim

What they say

Her campaign says she was the author of the Paycheck Protection Program, and that the program saved and protected more than 250,000 jobs in Maine.

“She was the author of the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program that provided forgivable loans to small businesses during the pandemic, saving and protecting more than 250,000 jobs in Maine.”

Source: Collins for Senator

What the record shows ·

The program was created by section 1102 of the CARES Act, Public Law 116-136, which the Senate passed 96 to 0 on March 25, 2020 and which was signed on March 27. Its forerunner, small business loans that could be forgiven, was in S. 3548, the Senate Republican bill Mitch McConnell introduced for himself and six committee chairmen; Collins is not among them. The Congressional Record names her as one of its authors. In June 2020 the majority leader called Marco Rubio and Collins the program's chief architects and thanked them for authoring it, and in April Ben Cardin said it was negotiated by Rubio, Collins, Jeanne Shaheen and himself. In September 2020 she sponsored S. 4773, the Continuing the Paycheck Protection Program Act.

Sources: U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov, Congress.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office, U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov

Limit: The Record makes her one of the program's authors, not its only one: the majority leader names Rubio beside her, and Cardin names four senators who negotiated it. Those are colleagues' statements on the floor, not a drafting record; no committee document assigning the drafting was found. The jobs figure rests on Small Business Administration loan data this desk did not read.

Susan M. Collins

Showing up: 10,000 consecutive votes

Matches stated record claim

What they say

Her campaign says she has cast more than 10,000 consecutive roll-call votes without missing one.

“Senator Collins has cast more than 10,000 consecutive roll call votes without missing one.”

Source: Collins for Senator

What the record shows ·

The Congressional Record for June 4, 2026 prints the majority leader and the minority leader marking her 10,000th consecutive roll-call vote that day, and the Democratic whip calling her the first senator in the country's history to reach it. The Record prints 27 roll calls for that day, votes 137 to 163, held from 10:30 a.m. to 4:42 a.m. the next morning. The Senate's own vote records list her voting Yea or Nay on every one, Yea on Roll Call 147, the vote after the tribute.

Sources: U.S. Government Publishing Office, U.S. Senate

Limit: The number 10,000 is the party leaders' statement on the Senate floor, printed in the official Record, not a count this desk made; counting it would mean reading every Senate roll call since January 1997. Nothing read for this desk shows a missed vote. Her campaign's home page still gives an older figure, more than 9,800.

Susan M. Collins

Diabetes research: the $200 million figure

Matches stated record claim

What they say

In a July op-ed she says that as Appropriations chair she secured a record $200 million for the Special Diabetes Program in this year's funding legislation.

“Earlier this year, as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I secured a record $200 million for the National Institutes of Health’s Special Diabetes Program in this year’s funding legislation.”

Source: Collins for Senator

What the record shows ·

Section 6402 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, Public Law 119-75, signed February 3, 2026, sets the Special Diabetes Program for Type 1 diabetes at $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2026, against $159,228,188 for 2025 and $155,619,196 for 2024. The program's schedule in the U.S. Code has no year before 2024 above $150,000,000, so $200 million is the largest annual amount it has had. She voted Yea when the Senate passed the act 71 to 29 on January 30 (Roll Call 20). Her own reauthorization bill, S. 2211, introduced in July 2025, had asked for $160,000,000 a year.

Sources: Congress.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office, U.S. Government Publishing Office, Congress.gov

Limit: The amount, the year and the word record are borne out by the law. "I secured" is a claim about her part in writing it, which no roll call settles: she chaired the committee that produced the year's spending bills and voted for the package, and the enacted amount is larger than her own bill asked for, but the health extensions in it are authorizing provisions that other committees also shaped.

Susan M. Collins

Caregivers: the respite care reauthorization

Matches stated record claim

What they say

Her campaign lists the Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act, signed in 2026, among the legislation she has authored or co-authored.

“the Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act (signed 2026)”

Source: Collins for Senator

What the record shows ·

She introduced S. 830, the Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act of 2025, with Tammy Baldwin on March 4, 2025. The bill went no further than committee, but both of its operative changes became law as section 6506 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, signed February 3, 2026: the definition of a family caregiver changes from an unpaid adult to an unpaid individual, in the same words, and the program's funding runs through 2030, for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 rather than the 2025 through 2030 her bill proposed.

Sources: Congress.gov, Congress.gov

Limit: What became law is her bill's text inside a larger act, not the stand-alone Act the campaign names, and its funding starts a year later than she proposed. It is the same provision, so the claim holds in substance. The dollar amounts the program receives are set elsewhere and were not compared.

Susan M. Collins

Insulin: the INSULIN Act

Matches stated record claim

What they say

In a July op-ed she says she joined three Senate colleagues this spring to introduce the INSULIN Act, and that it passed the Senate health committee by a bipartisan vote of 17 to 5.

“Stories like Bek’s are why I joined three Senate colleagues this spring to introduce the bipartisan INSULIN Act.”

Source: Collins for Senator

What the record shows ·

S. 4189, the INSULIN Act of 2026, was introduced on March 25, 2026 by Jeanne Shaheen for herself, Collins, Raphael Warnock and John Kennedy, with eight more original cosponsors; Collins is named first. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ordered it reported with a substitute on July 22, 2026; the committee's own record of that session lists it as agreed to by roll call vote, 17 to 5. It was placed on the Senate calendar on August 7. The reported text keeps a cap of $35 per 30-day supply for private and employer coverage. It has not passed the Senate.

Sources: Congress.gov, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, United States Senate

Limit: The introduction, the committee's approval and its 17-to-5 tally are on the record, and Congress.gov lists Shaheen as the sponsor, which is what "joined three Senate colleagues" says. The committee's page does not list each senator's vote, but the tally shows both parties voted yes: neither party has 17 seats on the committee (the Senate's roster lists 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats). A bill reported from committee is not law.

Susan M. Collins

Homeland Security and ICE funding

Matches stated direction

What they say

On the Senate floor on March 12, 2026, nearly a month into the lapse in Homeland Security funding, she urged the Senate to take up the department's funding bill and said defunding ICE and Customs and Border Protection is not a serious policy solution.

“Now, while defunding ICE and CBP may resonate well with far-left activists, it is not a serious public policy solution.”

Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office

What the record shows ·

She voted Yea on all seven motions to take up H.R. 7147, the Homeland Security funding bill, from February 12 to March 26, 2026 (Roll Calls 38, 39, 47, 54, 59, 71 and 74). Each fell short of the 60 votes needed. The version the Senate then passed by voice vote became law on April 30 and set funding in the bill for ICE, and for CBP's border security operations, at zero. On June 5 she voted Yea on S. 2, the Secure America Act, which passed 52 to 47 and became law on June 10. It gives ICE another $38.5 billion, including $7.45 billion for Homeland Security Investigations, and CBP another $26 billion, available through September 2029.

Sources: U.S. Senate, Congress.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office, U.S. Senate, Congress.gov, U.S. Government Publishing Office

Limit: The seven votes were on starting debate, and the Senate passed the bill without a recorded vote. She also voted for Bernie Sanders's failed amendment on January 30 to take back some ICE money and undo Medicaid changes, and on June 5 to waive budget rules for Dick Durbin's failed amendment to move some ICE money to DACA applications.

Issues in this record

Follow the evidence by issue.

Health care and drug costsSocial SecurityAbortionJobs, wages and taxesImmigration enforcementMoney in politics and ethics

Evidence timeline

Dated records, with sources attached.

  1. race event

    Official candidate list reviewed

    The Secretary of State's general election candidate list, and its withdrawal and replacement list updated September 22, show Susan M. Collins and Troy D. Jackson for U.S. Senate. Declared write-ins are listed separately.

    Maine Secretary of State Maine Secretary of State

  2. race event

    Jackson's nomination received

    The Secretary of State received his nomination as the Democratic replacement candidate on July 27, 2026. His campaign says the party's convention chose him the Saturday before.

    Maine Secretary of State Troy Jackson for Maine

  3. race event

    The Democratic primary winner withdraws

    Graham C. Platner withdrew from the U.S. Senate race, the Secretary of State records.

    Maine Secretary of State

  4. finance

    FEC filing snapshot

    July Quarterly 2026, principal campaign committee COLLINS FOR SENATOR.

    Federal Election Commission

  5. race event

    Senate passes the 2026 spending package

    Collins voted Yea on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, which carried her respite care bill's text and set the Special Diabetes Program at $200 million.

    U.S. Government Publishing Office Congress.gov

  6. race event

    Senate passes the 2025 reconciliation act

    Collins voted Nay; it passed 51 to 50 on the Vice President's vote.

    U.S. Government Publishing Office

  7. race event

    Senate passes the Social Security Fairness Act

    Collins voted Yea on H.R. 82, which passed 76 to 20 and became law on January 5, 2025.

    U.S. Government Publishing Office Congress.gov

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