Sen. Susan Collins Says She Has Long Had Benign Essential Tremor

Sen. Susan Collins disclosed Wednesday that she has had a benign essential tremor throughout her nearly 30 years in Congress. U.S. Senate since 1997, said she has dealt with it for the entire time she has served.

"It has absolutely no impact on my ability to do my job or how I feel each day," Collins stated. She described the tremor as "inconvenient at times, but that’s all," while noting it is occasionally inconvenient, sometimes the subject of cruel comments online, but does not hinder her ability to work and is something she has lived with for decades.

Collins serves as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and is running in part on her proven ability to bring federal dollars back to Maine.

She is seeking a sixth term in the Senate and is expected to face Democrat Graham Platner, 41, in the fall election after Gov. Janet Mills, 78, dropped out of the Democratic primary last week. The general election is expected to be one of the most contentious during this year’s midterms.

Collins last won re-election in 2020 with 51% of the vote, beating her Democratic opponent by nearly 9 percentage points. Benign essential tremor can happen at any age but is most common in people over 40, according to the Mayo Clinic. The condition can worsen over time but is not life-threatening and does not cause other health problems.

Essential tremor is a neurological condition that causes involuntary rhythmic shaking most often in the hands. It usually is not a dangerous condition but can worsen over time and is sometimes confused with Parkinson’s disease. Collins has never missed a single vote in all the time she has represented the people of Maine.

Her office stated in a January news release that she has never missed a vote as senator. She has a streak of nearly 10,000 consecutive votes that her office said was the second-longest in Senate history.