LEWISTON – U.S. Sen. Susan Collins confirmed Thursday that she will seek re-election in 2008.

During a meeting with the Sun Journal’s editorial board, Collins said it was her intention to seek re-election despite a vow during her first campaign in 1996 to serve no more than two consecutive terms in the Senate.

“I’ve found that I really underestimated the importance of seniority and how much difference it makes when you are a more senior member,” Collins said of her decision. “At the time, I thought that 12 years, that two terms, would be enough. This was at the height of what I would call the frenzy over term limits.”

Collins is the chairman of the Senate’s powerful Homeland Security Committee and also a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. She ran for governor in 1994 and was elected to the U.S. Senate for the first time in 1996.

She is widely popular in Maine and ranks among the most popular senators in the country. In a SurveyUSA poll released in September, Collins had a 69 percent approval rating, behind only Maine’s other U.S. senator, Olympia Snowe, and Kent Conrad of North Dakota, who were both at 73 percent. She had made similar comments about 2008 to The Associated Press in February in an article about women who would make credible presidential candidates.

The announcement sets up a potential clash of two political heavyweights.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, who represents Maine’s 1st Congressional District, has expressed some interest in seeking Collins’ Senate seat in 2008, though he has made no formal announcement. Allen is seeking re-election this year to his sixth term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

During a debate on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network on Wednesday night, Allen said he was focused on this year’s race and that this is the most exciting election he’s had since 1996 because Democrats are on the cusp of taking control of the House.

Allen is facing Republican state Sen. Darlene Curley and independent Dexter Kamilewicz. In the most recent publicly released poll from Portland’s Strategic Marketing Services, Allen was leading with 52 percent of respondents saying they supported him or were leaning that way. Curley had 22 percent, Kamilewicz had 3 percent and 23 percent were undecided.

Collins will be a formidable incumbent regardless of her opponent. She won with 49 percent of the vote in 1996 in a four-way race, and then improved her margin in 2002 when she defeated Chellie Pingree with 58 percent of the vote.

She has also built a reputation as a moderate Republican who is able to reach out to Democrats and has a high national profile as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

Collins said that she had considered running for governor again this year, but decided instead to stay put in Washington.

“Many, many people, Democrats and Republicans and independents, urged me to run for governor this year,” Collins said. “I’m very concerned about the future of the state. I think that there’s a lot of leadership that’s needed and a lot that needs to be done. But it just did not make sense for me to give up being chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the Senate at this important time in our nation’s history, when this is a major committee with arguably the most important responsibility facing our country today.”

During her meeting with the Sun Journal, Collins outlined some of the legislation she has pushed for this year, including a bill to improve port security, efforts to guarantee work on Navy ships for Bath Iron Works and the reorganization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to better respond to a crisis.

“I mentioned several accomplishments that I had in the last Congress, whether it’s FEMA reform, BIW funding or port security, and those are accomplishments that have come about because I work very well with members from both sides of the aisle and also because I’ve learned how to get things done for Maine,” Collins said. “And I now have the seniority, clout and respect from my colleagues that allows me to accomplish a lot for the state.”