Quick Facts
Biography
Barbara-Rose Collins (born April 13, 1939) is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.
Collins was born in Detroit, Michigan, graduated from the public schools there and attended Wayne State University as an Anthropology Major. She was a member of the Detroit Region I public school board, 1971–1973; a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives, from the 21st District, 1975–1981; and a member of the Detroit City Council, 1982–1991.
In 1988, she lost a primary election to the incumbent U.S. Representative for what was then Michigan's 13th congressional district, George W. Crockett, Jr. Crockett didn't run for reelection in 1990, and Collins won a crowded eight-way Democratic primary with 34 percent of the vote. This was tantamount to election in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district. She won handily in November and was reelected three more times, each time garnering over 80 percent of the vote. Her district was renumbered as the 15th district after the 1990 census. In 1996, Collins was routed in the Democratic primary by State Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick, taking only 30.6 percent of the vote. After five years out of politics, Collins returned to the Detroit City Council for two terms, retiring in 2009.