This provision of McCain-Feingold, sponsored by Maine Republican Olympia Snowe and Vermont Independent James Jeffords, as introduced applied only to for-profit corporations, but was extended to incorporate non-profit issue organizations, such as the Environmental Defense Fund or the National Rifle Association, as part of the " Wellstone Amendment ," sponsored by Senator Paul Wellstone.

Warner was among ten GOP Senators who voted against the charge of perjury during Clinton's impeachment ( the others were Richard Shelby of Alabama, Ted Stevens of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Olympia Snowe of Maine, John Chafee of Rhode Island, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Jim Jeffords of Vermont, Slade Gorton of Washington and Fred Thompson of Tennessee ).

In 1999 she was one of only four Republicans ( along with her colleague Olympia Snowe ) to vote for a Wellstone amendment to the Trade and Development Act of 2000 which would have conditioned trade benefits for Caribbean countries on " compliance with internationally recognized labor rights.

( Maine's other current senator, Olympia Snowe, had also worked for Cohen while he was in the House of Representatives.

Snowe was born Olympia Jean Bouchles in Augusta, Maine, the daughter of Georgia ( née Goranites ) and George John Bouchles.

Following her mother's death, Snowe was sent to St.

Tragedy struck Snowe again in 1973, when her husband was killed in an automobile accident.

Snowe was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1978, and represented Maine's 2nd Congressional District from 1979 to 1995.

While Snowe was First Lady of Maine from 1989 to 1995, she served as a U. S. Representative and was elected and sworn in as a United States Senator.

Snowe was easily reelected in 2000 over State Senate President Mark Lawrence, increasing her winning margin to 69 %- 31 %.

Snowe was an important voice during the Senate's 1999 impeachment trial of then-President Bill Clinton.

In April 2006, Snowe was selected by Time as one of " America's 10 Best Senators.

Snowe was the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the United States House of Representatives ; she is also the first woman to have served in both houses of a state legislature and both houses of the U. S. Congress.

Her surprise decision delivered a potential blow to Republicans who need just a handful of seats to regain control of the Senate ; Ms. Snowe was considered one of their safer incumbents.

On May 23, 2005, Snowe was one of fourteen senators dubbed the Gang of 14, who defused a confrontation between Senate Democrats ( who were filibustering several judicial nominees ) and the Senate Republican leadership ( who wanted to use the nominations as a flashpoint to eliminate filibusters on nominees through the so-called nuclear option ).

Snowe supports legalized abortion and some gay rights, and though she previously voted to block the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, she was one of eight Republican senators to vote for the repeal on December 18, 2010.

When Snowe announced in February 2012 that she would not seek re-election, it was reported that she and Democrat Ben Nelson had the closest overlap of any two members of the U. S. Senate.

On February 29, 2012, an Associated Press story mentioned that Pingree was starting to circulate petitions to run for the U. S. Senate seat that was vacated by the retirement of Olympia Snowe, which she confirmed on The Rachel Maddow Show later that night.

Democrats ' best hope for taking the seat was that Snowe would retire rather than run in 2006, but there was never any indication that Snowe seriously considered not running for re-election.

Subsequent to the 2006 midterm election, in which the Democratic Party gained control of both houses of Congress, Landrieu announced ( along with Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine ) the formation of the " Common Ground Coalition ", a group of moderate senators of both parties, with the goal of finding bipartisan consensus on legislative matters.

Yet the Rockefeller Republican label is sometimes applied to such modern-day politicians as Senators Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins of Maine and Governor Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.

Olympia Jean Snowe ( née Bouchles ; born February 21, 1947 ) is the senior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party.

Shortly after graduation, Bouchles married her fiancé, Republican state legislator Peter Snowe.

Time praised Snowe for her sensitivity to her constituents, also noting that: " Because of her centrist views and eagerness to get beyond partisan point scoring, Maine Republican Olympia Snowe is in the center of every policy debate in Washington.

In 2001, Snowe became the first Republican woman to secure a full-term seat on the Senate Finance Committee.

Snowe is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership and supports stem cell research.

In 2008, Snowe endorsed Republican candidate John McCain for President of the United States.

* U. S. Senator Olympia Snowe video clips from the Senate Republican Conference.

* U. S. Senator Olympia Snowe audio clips from the Senate Republican Conference

" Santorum faced criticism for his comments from Republican Senators including Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Lincoln Chafee, and Gordon H. Smith.

The Committee is chaired by Democrat Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and the Ranking Member is Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine.

He later served in the U. S. Senate as a senior aide to U. S. Senator Olympia Snowe, an influential moderate Republican from Maine, who Time magazine named one of the top 10 U. S. Senators in 2006.

Andrews lost the Senate election to his 2nd District colleague, Republican Olympia Snowe by a wide margin.

The most Democratic-leaning state to have two Republican Senators is Maine, with Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.

The six Republican senators who voted against conviction on both charges were John Chafee of Rhode Island, Susan Collins of Maine, Jim Jeffords of Vermont, William V. Roth, Jr. of Delaware, Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Incumbent Republican U. S. Senator Olympia Snowe won re-election to a third term.

The reason why Snowe won by a landslide even when Democrats were winning across the country is because she is a centrist Republican and thus has a very high approval rating in Maine.

She has never lost an election in 35 years as an elected official, and in the 2006 midterm senatorial elections, Snowe won with a reported 73. 99 % of votes.

Snowe, who had been elected to both of her previous terms by approximately 2 to 1 margins, had never lost an election.

In 1994, when Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell declined to run for re-election, Snowe immediately declared her candidacy for the seat.

* Olympia Snowe, incumbent U. S. Senator first elected in 1994 and previously a member of the U. S. House of Representatives.