PORTLAND, Maine — Sen. Susan Collins has gone to great lengths to preserve her unbroken voting streak in Washington.
On one occasion, it meant deplaning from a commercial flight to race back to Capitol Hill. Another time, she twisted her ankle as she scampered down marble hallways to the Senate floor with moments to spare. She even scheduled her upcoming wedding for the August recess, just to be safe.
The Maine Republican has never missed a vote since taking office in January 1997 — a record that evokes comparisons to baseball great Cal Ripken. This week, she expects to make her 5,000th consecutive vote.
She says her voting record resonates with Mainers.
“It demonstrates to my constituents my unwavering commitment to my job. I also think the people of Maine have a great work ethic and that they relate to it. They’re very diligent about showing up for work and meeting their obligations. They’re happy that I feel the same way,” Collins said.
Among sitting senators, only Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa has a longer voting streak, having cast 6,444 consecutive votes dating back to 1993, when he missed votes to join President Bill Clinton in touring flood damage in Iowa. Grassley said his voting record shows he’s “not horsing around” while he’s in Washington but, unlike Collins, he can’t claim that he never missed a vote. Collins’ record stood at 4,997 votes as the Senate prepared to reconvene.
Impressive as their records are, Grassley and Collins pale in comparison with the Senate’s record holder, Wisconsin Democrat William Proxmire, who had 10,252 consecutive votes from April 20, 1966, to Oct. 18, 1988.
Collins’ unblemished record tracks that of her mentor, the late Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, who never missed a Senate roll call in 13 years before surgery ended the streak at 2,941. “She was a stickler about it,” said David Richards, director of the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan.
Collins has had several close calls, including the time in 2010 when she and Sen. Olympia Snowe were recalled to the Senate floor after boarding a flight home.
But the closest came during a Homeland Security Committee meeting in 2007. Collins received assurances from Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who had been told by Democratic leadership that a Senate floor vote would be held open for committee members.
Feeling uneasy, Collins slipped out of the committee meeting and soon ended up in a foot race against the clock. “I jumped on the subway, ran up the escalator and literally twisted my ankle because I was running in high heels,” she said.
The Senate door was held open when she raced inside to cast the final vote.
Well, at least someone is showing up for work out there.
That’s nice, but she’s way overdue on her two term only pledge promise of 1996.
Don’t you understand, the people of Maine would simply perish if Susan weren’t there representing them!!!
I know some she should have missed.
She isn’t even a Mainer, Her home is in DC. I bet she doesn’t get any mail at her Bangor property.
Do you think Snowe is moving to Maine?
Voting for 5000 votes against the people of Maine is nothing to brag about. Since Suzie started her Senate Fiasco, Mainers have gone deeper into poverty with less and less jobs available. Suzie represents the Tea Party Republican Radicals and herself. To heck with Mainers she claims to represent. Time resign Suzie !!!!!!!!!!!
Tea Party? To them she’s a textbook example of a RINO!
To me, I take that radicals on the left and right dislike her as a sign she is on the right track…
She’s not voting against me…she’s doing a great job.
All 5,000 votes? You’ve kept track? How retentive of you.
{ She says her voting record resonates with Mainers.}She never missed a chance to undermine our Government and the people! She certainly can not deny her job destroying position on the Postal Reform Act of 2006 where as she never missed a vote although a yea or nay, vote it was unanimous. Besides look it up on the white house page and you will see her proudly standing behind Bush when he signed it!
she by no means represents the tea party values.. you lie.
What a complete waste of time being there for every vote….Like the award for Bobby Jones in Kansas for picking asparagus, or an award for Susie’s dog Elvis……….Anyone who knows anything about politics knows that the work in congress is done in committees….not being around to vote for every piddling miniscule unimportant bill that comes along..
So, you have insight on her committe work that the rest of don’t have? Seems as though she’s a hard committee worker also.
It’s an admirable record, and it reflects well on Maine. But surely the actual votes are at least as important. Collins voted for every single George W. Bush tax, for every single appropriation for the Iraq War, and recently, of course, joined with Snowe to defeat the Lilly Ledbetter law to help women get the same pay as men–for which she was praised by the Bangor Daily News.
Hmm. Seems as if she isn’t a RINO after all since many of those votes were with orther Republicans. Can’t have it both ways, critics.
I respect her for actually being there and actually doing her job. Unlike Obama who typically voted “present” if he was there at all.
I just don’t respect many of her votes. Her votes helped get us into the fiscal mess we are in, and many of the losses of our liberties. If she was the conservative she told us she was during her campaigns, I’d respect her a lot more.
Regardless of the critical responses, a remarkable record and dedicaton. We Mainers (including Margarat Smith) should be proud of her performance.
Senator Smith had the integrity and courage to stand up to the most extreme members of her own party. Senator Collins chose to join them.
Truely a great Maine lady!
I don’t care what party she is affiliated with- republican or democrat- voting is not a ‘streak’ it’s their freaking JOB of which they get paid $174,000 a year, $174,000 for a pension for life plus free health benefits, plus, plus, plus…..so gee thanks for doing your JOB senator.
Anything to say about the obvious majority who don’t maintain any sort of decent voting record?
Yeah, the inane people who keep voting for their ‘representatives’ who don’t do their job….get what they deserve……keep voting for the shmucks who don’t show up. What would happen if you and I didn’t show up to our jobs?? How long would we last?
Susan’s never missing a vote is impressive, but there are many I wish she had missed. She is not a Taxed Enough Already Republican(who are better known as conservatives); she is a RINO with liberal leanings.
This is a republican I can live with. Moderate. Not the new right-wing wacko jobs taking over the party.