People keep searching “Susan Collins age” because she’s back in the headlines for a tough 2026 re-election fight, and readers want a quick, accurate answer. Here’s the short version: she’s 73, and there’s a lot more going on behind that number that explains why she’s trending right now.
Background: Who Is Susan Collins?
Susan Margaret Collins is the senior United States Senator from Maine and has held that seat since January 1997, making her the longest-serving senator in Maine’s history. She was born on December 7, 1952, in Caribou, Maine. She’s a member of the Republican Party but has long been known as one of the more moderate voices in her caucus, which is exactly why she keeps showing up in national news whenever the Senate is split on a big vote.
Before the Senate, Collins started her career as a staff assistant for Senator William Cohen in 1975 and later became staff director of a Senate oversight subcommittee in 1981. She also worked in Maine state government, served as a commissioner in the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, and briefly worked as a Massachusetts deputy state treasurer before running for Maine governor in 1994. She lost that race but used the momentum, along with the name recognition it built, to launch her Senate campaign two years later.
People are searching for her right now for a few overlapping reasons. Her age and long tenure are a talking point in a competitive campaign, she’s chairing one of the most powerful committees in Congress, the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Maine’s Senate seat has suddenly become one of the most closely watched races in the entire country. That combination — a familiar name, a national spotlight, and a genuinely contested election — tends to spike search interest fast, which is why basic questions like her age keep showing up in search results.
Latest Update
Susan Collins officially announced her bid for a sixth Senate term in 2026, confirming she plans to keep her seat rather than retire. The race has drawn national attention because she is the only Republican senator from New England, and Democrats see the seat as one of their best pickup opportunities in the country. She faces challenges from Maine Governor Janet Mills and from Graham Platner on the Democratic side.
Campaign finance has also become part of the story. A published investigation found that between January 2025 and May 2026, at least 79 billionaires, and 97 including their spouses, donated roughly $9.8 million to Collins’ campaign network, with none of them being Maine residents. That reporting has become a talking point for her opponents heading into the November election.
What’s unconfirmed: Some websites publish wildly different figures for Collins’ net worth, ranging from under $2 million to several million, and at least one source lists a clearly false figure in the billions. There is no single, verified net worth figure from an official financial disclosure that this article can confirm as current. Treat any specific net worth number you see online as an estimate, not a fact.
Aside from the campaign and the fundraising story, no major personal news — health scare, family event, or scandal — about Susan Collins has been confirmed by credible news outlets as of this date. If you’ve seen a dramatic claim about her circulating on social media, it has not been verified here and should be treated as a rumor until a credible outlet reports it. Search interest in her age and background typically climbs around debate nights, high-profile Senate votes, or new campaign ads, so a spike in searches doesn’t automatically mean something dramatic happened — sometimes it just means she was in the news for doing her job.
Full Profile
Family and Early Life
Collins was born Susan Margaret Collins on December 7, 1952, in Caribou, Maine. Her family has run a lumber company in Aroostook County since the mid-1800s, and she grew up immersed in small-town Maine business and civic life. Some biography sites list her as one of six siblings, though the exact family details vary by source and aren’t independently confirmed by a major outlet, so that specific number should be read as likely but not fully verified.
Career Path
Collins spent over a decade working for Senator William Cohen before moving into Maine state government, then a federal appointment under President George H.W. Bush at the Small Business Administration, then Massachusetts state government. She ran unsuccessfully for Maine governor in 1994 as the state’s first female major-party gubernatorial nominee, finishing third with 23% of the vote in a crowded four-way race. She won her Senate seat in 1996 and has been reelected five times since, holding leadership roles on the Homeland Security and Aging committees along the way before taking the Appropriations Committee gavel in 2025. Her current bid for a sixth term puts her thirty-year Senate career on the line in what’s shaping up to be one of the tightest races of her political life.
Age
Susan Collins is 73 years old, born December 7, 1952. Her age has become a talking point in the 2026 race, as opponents argue for generational change in Washington while her campaign points to her seniority and committee power as an asset for Maine.
Religion
Collins has publicly identified as Christian in past biographical write-ups, though her specific denomination is not confirmed by a major verified source, so this detail should be treated as loosely sourced rather than an established fact.
Spouse/Partner
Collins married Thomas Daffron in 2012. Daffron has a business and consulting background, but detailed, verified figures about his career and finances circulating on smaller biography sites are not confirmed and should not be taken as fact.
Net Worth
There is no single confirmed net worth figure for Susan Collins. Different tracking sites that analyze congressional financial disclosures have published estimates ranging from roughly $1.7 million to over $6 million at various points, while other unreliable sites list numbers that don’t match any real disclosure — including at least one site that claims a figure in the billions, which has no basis in her actual financial filings. Members of Congress are required to file periodic financial disclosure reports, and those filings are the only reliable primary source for a figure like this. Until a specific number can be confirmed against her actual disclosure, this article treats her exact net worth as unconfirmed rather than repeating any of the conflicting estimates as fact.
Parents
Her father was Donald Collins and her mother was Patricia McGuigan. Both were reportedly active in Maine civic and political life, though granular biographical detail about them beyond that is limited in verified sources.
Height
Height figures for Collins circulating online (commonly around 5 feet 3 inches) come from unverified fan/biography sites rather than an official source, so this detail is listed here as unconfirmed.
Education
Collins earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Lawrence University. She graduated from the university, located in Canton, New York, before beginning her political career in 1975.
Hometown/State of Origin
Collins was born and raised in Caribou, Maine, located in Aroostook County in the northern part of the state. She continues to represent Maine in the Senate to this day.
Official Social Media
You can follow her official updates through her verified Senate website and official accounts, linked here: Susan Collins — Official U.S. Senate Website.
Quick Facts Table
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Susan Margaret Collins |
| Date of Birth | December 7, 1952 |
| Age (as of Sept 2026) | 73 |
| Birthplace | Caribou, Maine, U.S. |
| Current Role | U.S. Senator from Maine (since 1997); Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee |
| Political Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Thomas Daffron (m. 2012) |
| Education | St. Lawrence University (BA) |
| Net Worth | Unconfirmed — estimates vary widely across sources |
| 2026 Status | Running for a sixth Senate term |
Reader Questions (FAQ)
How old is Susan Collins right now?
Susan Collins is 73 years old as of September 2026. She was born on December 7, 1952, in Caribou, Maine.
Is Susan Collins running for reelection in 2026?
Yes. She officially announced her campaign for a sixth Senate term in 2026. If she wins, she’ll extend her tenure as Maine’s longest-serving senator.
Who is Susan Collins’ husband?
Her husband is Thomas Daffron, whom she married in 2012. He has a business and consulting background, though detailed financial figures about him online are not independently confirmed.
What is Susan Collins’ net worth?
There is no single verified net worth figure. Estimates based on financial disclosures have ranged from around $1.7 million to over $6 million at different points, so treat any specific number as an estimate rather than a confirmed fact.
Where is Susan Collins from?
She is from Caribou, Maine, a town in Aroostook County in the northern part of the state, and she still represents Maine in the U.S. Senate today.
Who is challenging Susan Collins in the 2026 election?
Her most prominent Democratic challengers are Maine Governor Janet Mills and Graham Platner. The race is considered highly competitive and has drawn national attention.
What committee does Susan Collins chair?
She chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, a position she’s held since January 2025. It’s one of the most powerful roles in Congress because it controls federal spending decisions.
Wrap-Up
Susan Collins’ age keeps coming up in searches mostly because of timing: at 73, she’s entering what could be her sixth Senate campaign at a moment when voters are openly debating whether long-serving lawmakers should keep running or step aside. Her three decades in office give her real influence, especially through her Appropriations Committee chairmanship, but that same seniority is now a central argument her opponents are using against her.
What’s actually confirmed is fairly narrow: her birthdate, her current age, her marriage, her education, and her active 2026 campaign. Numbers like her exact net worth, her husband’s finances, and some family details are murkier than various websites make them look, and this article has flagged those spots rather than guessing. That’s worth keeping in mind any time a “net worth updated 2026” headline promises an oddly specific dollar figure with no real source behind it — a lot of that content is generated automatically and repeats numbers from site to site without ever checking an actual financial disclosure.
As the 2026 race heats up between now and November, expect her age, her voting record, and her fundraising to keep driving search interest. This page will reflect confirmed facts only, so check back if you’re trying to separate real developments from campaign noise.
Thomas Andrew is the founder of Odubio.com, a digital platform sharing inspiring biographies, news, and stories about global icons and achievers.