Skip to content

Mac Collins, Who Represented Georgia for 12 Years in the House, Dead at 74

Georgia Republican hailed from rural part of Peach State that quickly grew with Atlanta sprawl

Rep. Mac Collins, R-Ga., seen here on Oct. 28, 1993, with his granddaughter Brittany (who was dressed as a green M&M for the Longworth House Office Building Halloween Party) died on Nov 20. (Laura Patterson/CQ Roll Call)
Rep. Mac Collins, R-Ga., seen here on Oct. 28, 1993, with his granddaughter Brittany (who was dressed as a green M&M for the Longworth House Office Building Halloween Party) died on Nov 20. (Laura Patterson/CQ Roll Call)

Former Rep. Mac Collins, a Georgia Republican who represented parts of the Peach State for 12 years, died on Nov. 20 and was buried in Milner, Ga., on Sunday. He was 74.

The owner of a trucking company, Collins came to Congress after stints in the Georgia state Senate from 1989 to 1993 and the Butts County Commission from 1977 to 1981, where he served as a Democrat before switching parties to the GOP. Collins was elected to Congress in 1992, defeating incumbent Democrat Richard Ray.

The district Collins represented was south of the Atlanta metropolitan area near Hartsfield International Airport, one of the world’s busiest, and included parts of Macon and underwent Georgia’s huge population growth, making previously rural areas suburban.

He ran for the Senate in 2004, but lost in the GOP primary, a three-way contest among Collins, Johnny Isakson, who still holds the seat, and Herman Cain, a former presidential candidate. 

Recent Stories

Trump puts Italy’s Meloni in high-pressure role as bridge to EU on tariffs

Supreme Court to review Trump birthright citizenship order

At the Races: Only the young

California sues to stop tariffs levied under economic emergency

5 takeaways from first-quarter fundraising reports

Judge starts contempt of court process over US immigration moves