Senator Susan Collins: A Political Analysis

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) is one of the longest serving and well-respected Republicans currently serving in the United States Senate and throughout her long-standing career as a politician, Collins has never taken a stance without thoroughly considering the issue at hand. This approach has set her apart from other more partisan politicians with Collins often voting across party lines when the need arises to do so. In a state know for its political independence when it comes to party alliances, Collins bilateral attitude in her own category of politician in the mindset of the Maine voter. For her past three elections, she carried every county in Maine by a landslide vote over her opponents, again showing the idiosyncratic nature of her campaign

Independents held 36.7% percent of the vote in Maine according to the map and this was spread across all of Maine, from the coast to far inland. The evidence reaffirms the bilateral stance Maine has taken yet in Collins’ Senate career, every election she has been in has had Maine vote unanimously Republican and her winning margins increase with each election. Her first election in 1996 had a voter majority of 32,196 votes and securing 11 out of Maine’s 16 counties. The following election in 2002, she won by a majority of 85,183 votes and secured every country in the state which happened again in 2006, this time winning by a majority of 164,790 votes. Finally in 2012 she was reelected but this time secured the win by a landslide majority of 223,251 votes again with every county in the state casting majority Republican votes. This speaks volumes for Senator Collins standing she has with Maine, that state that is know for it’s political diversity can vote in majority for one political party in a region that is known for not having any Republicans in the

The political region of the Northeast is predominately led by Democrats, so Collins stands out not only due to her status but her unorthodox-bipartisan approach to the issues she votes on and often crosses party lines to vote in favor a bill that her peers would vote against. In fact her voting record and political positions places her considerably more towards the centrist/moderate side of the party, something that is increasingly uncommon for the Republican party. For example, she voted no on a bill to harshen punishments for drug users in 1999 - one of only three Republicans to do so - as well as voting no to the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, one of only four to do so. However this bilateral behavior has not negatively affected her standings with the voters or populace in general. If anything it has helped, as according to a 2016 poll by Morning Consult in which voters cast their approval or disapproval for senators, Collins holds a 69% approval rating which is second to only Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) . Moreover she has been reelected in her home state of Maine, which she has served since 1997, over four times consecutively demonstrating the trust the citizens of Maine have in her. Her expertise, experience and status as politician in addition to the evident admiration citizens of Maine have for her make Collins an incredibly qualified individual to run for