Sen. Susan Collins, the 73-year-old Maine Republican who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, has publicly confirmed for the first time that she has lived with a benign essential tremor throughout her nearly three decades in office. The disclosure arrives as the Cook Political Report rates her 2026 reelection contest a toss-up, and as online speculation about her health has intensified.
Collins shared the diagnosis with News Center Maine, then provided a fuller statement to The Hill. She described the condition as common, treatable with medication, and entirely separate from any threat to her capacity to serve.
"What I have is an extremely common condition that is called a benign essential tremor. I have had it for the entire time that I have served in the United States Senate. It has absolutely no impact on my ability to do my job or how I feel each day," Collins said.
Collins leaned hard on her attendance record to make the case. First elected in 1996, she has never missed a single vote on the Senate floor and will soon cast her 10,000th consecutive vote. That streak spans three decades, multiple leadership roles, and, as she now confirms, the entire duration of her tremor.
"If you talk to anybody in Washington, they will tell you that I am the hardest working person that they have ever worked with, and the fact is I've never missed a single vote in all the time that I've been honored to represent the people of Maine."
"I think that's pretty good evidence of the fact that I am blessed with great health," she added.
In a written statement shared with The Hill, Collins offered additional detail. She noted that essential tremor affects roughly one in twenty people over the age of 40 and said the condition sometimes causes trembling in her hands, head, or voice.
"The tremor is occasionally inconvenient, and sometimes the subject of cruel comments online, but it does not hinder my ability to work and, as I said, is something that I have lived with for decades."
The phrase "cruel comments online" points to what prompted the disclosure. AP News reported that scrutiny of Collins's health grew after videos from the campaign trail showed visible shaking, triggering questions about her fitness to serve another six-year term.
Essential tremor is distinct from Parkinson's disease. Newsmax noted that medical experts cited in reporting on the disclosure said the condition is not associated with cognitive decline, Parkinson's, or Alzheimer's. It causes involuntary shaking and can worsen over time, but it is generally not dangerous.
That distinction matters in a political environment where candidate health, particularly age-related fitness, has become a live issue in races across the country. Collins is 73. Her likely general-election opponent, Democrat Graham Platner, is 41.
Health disclosures by political figures have drawn intense attention in recent years. Former Sen. Ben Sasse recently opened up about his own terminal cancer fight, a reminder that serious medical conditions touch both parties and every generation of public servants.
The Maine Senate seat is one of the most competitive in the country. Platner, an oyster farmer and Marine and Army National Guard combat veteran, carries a 100-percent disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs stemming from combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has previously disclosed that he receives a monthly disability payment of nearly $4,800, which supplements his farming income.
An Echelon Insights poll conducted April 3, 9 showed Platner leading Collins 51 percent to 45 percent. An earlier Maine People's Resource Center survey from March 20, 31 had Collins ahead of then-candidate Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, 45 percent to 42 percent. Mills has since dropped out of the race.
Platner has not been shy about making bold claims on the trail. He recently told supporters he expects to be "arrested" as a senator if Republicans hold the chamber, the kind of overheated rhetoric that plays well with the progressive base but may not wear well with Maine's famously independent electorate.
The Washington Examiner reported that the disclosure came after public speculation about Collins's health based on videos showing her shaking, making her medical condition a new point of discussion in the race. Collins's decision to get ahead of the issue and name the condition directly is a straightforward move, the kind of transparency voters say they want from elected officials.
Control of the Senate hangs on a handful of races, and Maine is near the top of every strategist's watch list. Collins chairs the Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful posts in Congress. Losing that seat would not just cost Republicans a vote, it would cost them a senior leader who controls the federal purse strings.
That broader fight over the chamber's future has consumed Republican leadership. GOP senators have been eyeing a potential Alito retirement as a midterm lifeline for their thin majority, a sign of how precarious the math remains heading into November.
The New York Post noted that Collins is seeking a sixth Senate term and framed the tremor disclosure as part of the broader campaign-season health conversation. The paper reported that essential tremor causes involuntary shaking and is generally not dangerous, though it can worsen over time.
Just The News added that Collins's age and health are likely to receive more attention in the race against the much younger Platner, underscoring the generational contrast Democrats hope to exploit.
Collins deserves credit for naming the condition plainly and on the record. She did not hide behind vague statements or refuse to answer. She told voters what she has, how long she has had it, and pointed to a voting record that would be the envy of most senators half her age.
The real question is whether her opponents and their allies will accept the medical facts or attempt to turn a benign, well-documented condition into a disqualifying narrative. The "cruel comments online" Collins referenced suggest that effort is already underway.
Voters in Maine will decide whether a senator with a perfect attendance record, three decades of seniority, and a chair gavel on Appropriations is worth keeping, or whether a 41-year-old oyster farmer with no legislative experience is a better bet. That is a legitimate choice. But it should be made on policy, record, and vision, not on a medical condition that one in twenty Americans over 40 shares.
Senate battles have grown more intense in recent cycles, with Republicans forcing marathon floor fights and both parties treating every competitive seat as existential. Maine will be no different.
Collins did not disclose the specific medication she takes or when she was first diagnosed. No independent medical records or physician statements accompanied the announcement. Those gaps may invite further questions, fair ones, if asked in good faith. But the facts already on the table tell a clear story: a common condition, managed for decades, with a voting record that backs up the claim.
When a senator has shown up for every single vote across thirty years, the burden of proof falls on those who say she can't do the job, not on her.