Mac Collins

Michael Allen "Mac" Collins (October 15, 1944 – November 20, 2018) was an American politician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2005, representing Georgia's 8th congressional district (previously Georgia's 3rd congressional district from 1993 to 2003). In 2004, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate.

Collins was born in Jackson, Georgia, and joined a concrete products business run by his father after graduating from high school, eventually expanding it into a ready-mix concrete company. He served in the Georgia Army National Guard from 1964 to 1970. He later began a trucking company that is now run by his sons.

Collins began his political career in 1977, when he was elected to the Butts County Commission. He was immediately elected chairman by his colleagues and served two terms, giving up his seat in 1980 when he switched his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican. After losing two elections for Georgia State Senate, he was elected in 1988 from a district in Henry County south of Atlanta and served two terms there.

In the United States House of Representatives Collins was a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Deputy Whip for the Republican Party, and was selected by the Speaker of the House to serve on the highly-classified United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Collins was an advocate for tax reform, defense issues, veterans rights, and prisoner-of-war families. He lost his role as Deputy Whip of the United States House of Representatives after the September 11 attacks in 2001 when he informed President George W. Bush that he would not support the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

1992 campaign for U.S. House of Representatives

During the 1990s round of redistricting, Democrats in the Georgia state legislature, bent on getting rid of Newt Gingrich, dismantled his old 6th District.The new map shifted much of Gingrich's former territory south of Atlanta—including Collins's home—to the 3rd District, which at the time was based in Columbus and represented by five-term Democrat Richard Ray.

Collins immediately jumped into the race. He defeated Paul Broun (who would later be elected to Congress from the 10th District) in the Republican primary and then defeated Ray in the general election by almost 10 points. Collins was reelected with 65 percent of the vote in 1994, and four more times afterward with little difficulty---even running unopposed in 1998.

2004 United States Senate campaign

In 2004, Collins was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate seat left vacant by the retirement of Senator Zell Miller; it went to Johnny Isakson. In order to participate in this race, Collins declined to run for re-election to the House. Collins's seat was filled by state House minority leader Lynn Westmoreland.

2006 campaign for U.S. House of Representatives

In 2006, Collins moved back to Butts County and made an attempt to return to Congress against Democrat Jim Marshall. This district included none of the territory Collins represented in his first five terms, but three counties that he represented in his last. It made for one of the most competitive House races in the nation. Collins lost by only 1,100 votes.

Collins died on November 20, 2018, in Flovilla, Georgia at age 74.