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
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.
