Thomas Collins was an American politician from Arizona. He served several terms in the Arizona State Senate, his first stint lasting from the

10th 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The rea ...

through

12th Arizona State Legislature The 12th Arizona State Legislature, consisting of the Arizona State Senate and the Arizona House of Representatives, was constituted from January 1, 1935, to December 31, 1936, during Benjamin Baker Moeur's second term as Governor of Arizona, ...

s, holding one of the two seats from Pima County. He also served from Pima County during the

20th 20 (twenty; Roman numeral XX) is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score. In mathematics *20 is a pronic number. *20 is a tetrahedral number as 1, 4, 10, 20. *20 is the ba ...

and 22nd Arizona State Legislatures. He also served several terms on the Pima County Board of Supervisors.

Biography

Collins was born in 1883 in County Cork, Ireland. Collins moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1904, and began working for the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

as an engineer, where he remained for 47 years until his retirement in 1961. In 1918, Collins was on the Tucson Board of Freeholders, and was one of the men responsible for drafting the city's charter that year. In 1922, Collins was elected to the Pima County Board of Supervisors. He ran for re-election in 1924, defeating Danie Burke in the Democrat primary. In the general election in November, Collins lost by a single vote, 1608–1607, to Republican J. P. Compton. Collins did file a recount petition, during which the question of whether or not

Papago Indians Papago may refer to: * An archaic term for Tohono Oʼodham people * An archaic term for the language spoken by the Tohono Oʼodham people * ''Papago'' (moth), a genus of geometer moths * Papago Freeway, I-10 through Phoenix, Arizona * Papago Fre ...

had the right to vote. Collins eventually dropped his suit, making Compton the winner. He ran for the Board of Supervisors again in 1926, defeating Steve Roemer in the primary, but losing to Republican George Bedell in the general election. Collins married Mary M. Duffy on August 21, 1928. Although Duffy was also from Tucson, the two married in Los Angeles. In 1930, he ran for one of the two seats in the Arizona State Senate from Pima County. He and fellow Democrat,

T. W. Donnelly Thomas W. Donnelly (1874-1963) was an American politician from Arizona. He served four consecutive terms in the Arizona State Senate from the 7th through the 10th Arizona State Legislature, holding one of the two seats from Pima County. Biogra ...

, the incumbent, were uncontested in the primary, with Collins taking the top spot. The two Democrats easily defeated their Republican opponents in the general election, with Collins once again taking the top spot. Both he and Donnelly ran for re-election in 1932. It was initially reported that both went down to defeat in the primary. However, when all the votes were counted, Collins came in second in a four-man race, with E. T. Houston the top vote-getter. They easily defeated the Republicans in the November general election. Collins and Houston both ran for re-election in 1934, taking the top two spots in a six-man Democrat primary. They were unopposed in the general election. In 1936, Collins did not run for re-election to the State Senate, instead choosing to run for the Democrat nomination to run for Arizona's seat in the

U. S. 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 ...

. He finished seventh in a field of eleven. Collins once again ran for the State Senate, this time in 1950. He and incumbent Bill Kimball easily defeated the Republicans in November. Kimball and Collins ran for re-election in 1952, however, while Kimball won, Collins finished fourth. He was back in 1954, coming in second behind Republican Hiram S. Corbett in the general election. He ran one last time in 1956 for re-election, but lost in the general election, coming in third. Collins died on February 25, 1966, in St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Thomas Democratic Party Arizona state senators 20th-century American legislators 1883 births 1966 deaths Politicians from County Cork Irish emigrants to the United States Politicians from Tucson, Arizona 20th-century Arizona politicians