Michael Allen "Mac" Collins (October 15, 1944 – November 20, 2018) was an American businessman and politician. He was a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
member of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from 1993 to 2005, representing (previously from 1993 to 2003). In 2004, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
.
Early life
Collins was born in
Jackson, Georgia
Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Butts County, Georgia, United States. The population was 5,045 in 2010, up from 3,934 at the 2000 census. The community was named after governor James Jackson.
History
Founded in 1826, Jackson began ...
, and joined a concrete products business run by his father after graduating from high school, eventually expanding it into a
ready-mix concrete
Ready-mix concrete (RMC) is concrete that is manufactured in a batch plant, according to each specific job requirement, then delivered to the job site "ready to use".
There are two types with the first being the barrel truck or in–trans ...
company. His mother was first woman to serve on the
Flovilla, Georgia
Flovilla is a city in Butts County, Georgia, United States. The population was 653 at the 2010 census.
Indian Springs State Park is nearby.
History
Flovilla incorporated in 1885. Flovilla is a coined name meaning "village of flowers".
Geograph ...
city council. He attended public schools throughout his youth. He served in the
Georgia Army National Guard
The Georgia Army National Guard is the Army National Guard component of the Georgia National Guard, administratively part of the Georgia Department of Defense. It consists of more than 11,100 citizen-soldiers training in more than 79 hometown ...
from 1964 to 1970.
Georgia politics and State Senator
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
The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia.
Legal provisions
The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia Ho ...
, he was elected in 1988 from a district in
Henry County south of
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
and served two terms there.
U.S. House of Representatives
Electoral History
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. In
1992, he defeated
Paul Broun
Paul Collins Broun Jr. (born May 14, 1946) is an American physician and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a member of the Tea Party Caucus.
Broun unsuccess ...
(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.
In
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...
, Collins defeated
Democrat Fred Overby 66%-34%.
In
1996, he defeated
Democrat Jim Chafin 61%-39%.
In
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
, he ran unopposed for reelection.
In
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
, he defeated Democrat Gail Notti 63%-37%.
After the 2000 redistricting cycle, Collins was placed in the 8th District. In
2002, he easily won re-election by the widest margin of his career over
Democrat Angelos Petrakopoulos, 78%-22%.
In
2004, he declined to run for re-election, opting to run for
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
.
Lynn Westmoreland succeeded him representing the 8th District.
Congressional Record
In the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
, 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
The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by ...
. He lost his role as Deputy Whip of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
after the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
in 2001 when he informed President
George W. Bush that he would not support the creation of the
Transportation Security Administration
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...
(TSA).
Collins was a sponsor in the passage of two bills. The first, H.R. 1121, designated the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 18 Greenville Street in
Newnan, Georgia, as the “Lewis R. Morgan Federal Building and United States Courthouse”.
The second, H.R. 1316, amended chapter 87 of title 5, United States Code, with respect to the order of precedence to be applied in the payment of life insurance benefits.
Collins was focused on commerce,
tax reform
Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government and is usually undertaken to improve tax administration or to provide economic or social benefits. Tax reform can include reducing the level of taxati ...
, foreign trade and international finance, and technology legislation.
Later political career
2004 United States Senate campaign
In 2004, Collins was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
seat left vacant by the retirement of Senator
Zell Miller
Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U. ...
; it went to
Johnny Isakson
John Hardy Isakson (December 28, 1944 – December 19, 2021) was an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Georgia from 2005 to 2019 as a member of the Republican Party. He represented in the United States ...
, who won the Republican primary. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Isakson had 53% of votes, followed by
Herman Cain with 26% and Collins with 21%. Isakson went on to win the general election against
Democratic Congresswoman
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
Denise Majette
Denise Lorraine Majette (born May 18, 1955) is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, she represented Georgia's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2003 to 2005.
Biography
Born in ...
.
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 after a mid-decade Republican redistricting. It made for one of the most competitive House races in the nation. he race featured heavy spending, not only by the candidates themselves, but from independent groups. During the campaign, President
George W. Bush attended a rally to try to help Collins. Marshall narrowly won reelection by 1,700 votes, 50.5%-49.5%.
Personal life and death
Collins was a
Christian and was married to his wife for 54 years. They had four children including
Mike Collins who is a U.S. representative for
Georgia's 10th congressional district.
Collins died on November 20, 2018, in
Flovilla, Georgia
Flovilla is a city in Butts County, Georgia, United States. The population was 653 at the 2010 census.
Indian Springs State Park is nearby.
History
Flovilla incorporated in 1885. Flovilla is a coined name meaning "village of flowers".
Geograph ...
at age 74.
References
External links
*
Mac Collins papers at the University of West Georgia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Mac
1944 births
2018 deaths
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American politicians
American trucking industry businesspeople
American United Methodists
Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state)
County commissioners in Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia National Guard personnel
Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats
Georgia (U.S. state) state senators
People from Jackson, Georgia
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century Methodists