Candidate · November 3, 2026

Susan M. Collins

On the ballot for U.S. Senate · Maine

RepublicanIncumbent
raised through Oct 14, 2026
$22M
cash on hand
$2.7M
issues with public statements
3
outside spending for or against
$40M

§1On the ballot

Why this matters: This is exactly how the candidate appears on your ballot, from the state's official candidate list.

OfficeU.S. Senate · Maine1,2
Party on the ballotRepublican1,2
StatusIncumbent — Currently serves as a U.S. senator from Maine.3
How it's decidedMaine uses ranked-choice voting for federal races in the general election, and extra counting rounds are only needed when a race has more than two candidates and no one wins a majority.4,5
Also on the ballot

§2Who they are

Why this matters: Background and experience help you judge how someone might do the job. These come from public records and the candidate's own materials.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Susan Collins was born in 1952 in Caribou, Maine, and graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1975.6 She worked on the staff of U.S. Representative and later Senator Bill Cohen, was appointed Maine's commissioner of professional and financial regulation in 1987 and regional director of the Small Business Administration in 1992, and became the founding executive director of the Center for Family Business at Husson College in 1994.6 She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and reelected in 2002, 2008, 2014 and 2020.6 She chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and serves on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee.7

Why they say they're running

Her campaign website says she believes Mainers deserve a senator who works as hard as they do and will always represent their interests.8

Service in Congress since 2023

  • 2021–nowU.S. Senator, ME3

Websites and accounts

§3What they've said on the issues

Why this matters: These are positions the candidate has stated publicly — on their campaign website or in public statements — summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Issues they haven't spoken about publicly are left out.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Each issue has its own range of views. A position is marked on that range only when the candidate's own statement clearly matches one option; there is no overall left–right score.

Social Security and Medicare

Medicare coverage of new tests and services

Her campaign website says she has led legislation to make key telehealth flexibilities permanent in Medicare so patients can see providers from home.11

  1. Add more services by law, such as permanent telehealth from home and testing and treatment by pharmacists
  2. Leave new coverage mainly to Medicare's own reviews of the medical evidence
  3. Add services only when savings elsewhere in Medicare cover their cost
Marked: the option their statement matches.
Social Security benefit levels

Her campaign website says she wrote the Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in 2025, which it says raised benefits for 2.8 million Americans.11

Economy, Jobs and Trade

Small business loans and programs

Her campaign website says she wrote the Paycheck Protection Program, which gave forgivable loans to small businesses during the pandemic.11

§4Popular bills that never got a vote

Why this matters: Many bills with wide support from both parties never reach a vote, so no member of Congress is ever on record for or against them. Signing on as a sponsor or cosponsor is the only public record of support.

While Susan M. Collins served, these bills had broad support from both parties but never reached a floor vote. No officeholder ever had to vote on them. Susan M. Collins sponsored or cosponsored 35 of the 50. How bills die without a vote.

See all 50

§5Money

Why this matters: Campaigns report where their money comes from and how much they have left. Outside groups that spend on their own, without coordinating with the campaign, report that too.

Reported to the Federal Election Commission for the 2025–2026 election cycle, through October 14, 2026.62

Raised$22,465,218
Spent$22,351,644
Cash on hand$2,689,883

Where the money came from

Individual donors$15M · 68%
PACs and other political committees$1.6M · 7%
Political party committees$62K · 0%
Transfers from the candidate's other committees$5.4M · 24%
Other receipts (other loans, refunds, interest)$138K · 1%

Outside spending

Groups spending independently reported $7,496,261 supporting and $32,341,354 opposing Susan M. Collins this cycle, primary and general combined, in the 24- and 48-hour reports the law requires for larger expenditures, filed through October 26, 2026.63

Largest independent spenders, as named in their FEC filings.
GroupSupportingOpposing
WinSenate—$27,088,688
STRONGER MAINE$2,051,423—
Lead Maine Committee, Inc.$1,324,478—
Planned Parenthood Votes—$1,274,077
SLF PAC$1,133,545—
End Citizens United Action Fund—$1,019,470
AMERICAS CREDIT UNIONS$950,833—
LCV Victory Fund—$770,996

Smaller expenditures that appear only on a group's regular monthly or quarterly report aren't in these totals, so the full amounts can be somewhat higher. When a group amends a report, only its latest version is counted.

§6Financial disclosures

Why this matters: Federal candidates and members of Congress must report their assets, income, debts and outside jobs, and members must report stock trades. These filings show possible conflicts of interest.

Senate candidates and senators file with the Senate's own disclosure system, which asks each visitor to agree to its terms before searching, so we can't link straight to a filing. You can search for Susan M. Collins at efdsearch.senate.gov64.