Doug Collins (politician)

Early life, education, and early career

Born in Gainesville, Georgia, Collins is a graduate of North Hall High School. He attended North Georgia College & State University, where he received a B.A. in Political science and Criminal law, in 1988. He attended the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, receiving his Master of Divinity in 1996. Collins also earned his Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School, in 2007.

Collins worked as an intern for Georgia Congressman Ed Jenkins, before working as a salesman, selling hazardous material safety products to Georgia's state, and local governments. From 1994 to 2005, Collins was a senior pastor at Chicopee Baptist Church, while co-owning a scrapbooking retail store with his wife, Lisa. Collins worked as a lawyer, and has been a managing partner at the Collins and Csider law firm since 2010.

Military service

In the late 1980s, Collins served two years in the United States Navy, as a Navy-Chaplain. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Collins joined the United States Air Force Reserve Command where he presently serves as a Chaplain (Lieutenant Colonel). Enlisted in the 94th Airlift Wing at the Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia; Collins was deployed to Balad Air Base for five months in 2008, during the Iraq War.

Elections

Collins served three terms in the Georgia House of Representatives, representing Georgia's 27th district from 2007 to 2013. After Republican incumbent state representative Stacey Reece decided he would run for the Georgia State Senate, Collins announced he would run for the vacated seat. He won both the primary and general elections unopposed. He was unopposed for reelection in 2008 and 2010.

Tenure

In 2011, Collins sponsored a plan proposed by Governor Deal to reform Georgia's Hope Scholarship program. The bill allowed for a 10% cut in scholarships, and raised the level of the SAT and GPA test scores, required to obtain a scholarship; saving the state $300 million. Collins argued that the program would be insolvent without the cut, saying that "If you look at it at the end of the day, Georgia still leads the way in providing hope—educational hope—for those wanting to go on to post-secondary education." In 2012, he supported amending Georgia's Constitution to establish a statewide commission authorizing and expanding charter schools.

Collins supports the death penalty, voting in favor of allowing juries to use the death penalty, even when there isn't a unanimous verdict, if the defendant has committed at least one “statutory aggravating circumstance. He is against physician assisted suicide, voting in favor of making it a felony for anyone who "knowingly and willingly" assists someone in a suicide. Collins voted for the failed Pre-Abortion Ultrasound Requirement, requiring doctors to give women who are undergoing an abortion the option of a free ultrasound, or to listen to the fetal heartbeat. He also voted in favor of Georgia's law to prohibit Abortions past the 20th week, being one of the most restrictive early abortion bans in the country.

In 2012 Collins signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any Global Warming legislation that would raise taxes.

Collins supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. He stated that “The executive order allows re-entry to lawful permanent residents and does not represent a comprehensive ban on entry to people from certain countries. In this temporary measure, President Trump has given us the opportunity to get refugee policy right going forward.”

Committee assignments

In the 2011–2012 legislative session, Collins was one of three administrative floor leaders for Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. Collins served on the committees for:

2012 election

In 2012, Collins ran for Congress in the redrawn 9th congressional district. (The district's incumbent, Tom Graves, opted to run in the newly created 14th district, where his home was located.) Collins faced local media personality Martha Zoller and retired principal Roger Fitzpatrick in the Republican primary. The 9th is the most Republican district in the Eastern Time Zone, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+27. It was understood that whoever won the Republican primary would be the district's next representative in Congress.

Collins finished first in the primary with 42 percent of the total, but just 700 votes ahead of Zoller. Because neither had a majority, a runoff was held on August 21, 2012, and Collins defeated Zoller in that contest 55 percent to 45 percent. In the general election, he defeated Democrat Jody Cooley 76 percent to 24 percent.

Committee assignments

Defense of Military Chaplains

Mr. Collins has written letters in defense of military chaplains including Joseph Lawhorn and Wes Modder, both of whom have faced opposition for expressing their Christian beliefs.

Personal life

Collins married his wife, Lisa, in 1988. She is a fifth grade teacher at Mount Vernon Elementary School in Gainesville, Georgia; where the couple resides with their three children, Jordan, Copelan and Cameron. One of which has spinal bifidia Collins is a practicing Southern Baptist, and attends Lakewood Baptist Church.