[15][16] Perkins attended accounting and financial planning classes at Golden West College and the University of Portland.

[23][24] She also served in a variety of roles with the Linn County Republican Women, and as an elected precinct committeeperson in Albany.

Perkins filed for personal bankruptcy twice and was fired in 2008 from her sales position at an investment company for violating its policy, according to a 2010 Albany Democrat-Herald article.

Perkins again filed for bankruptcy in 2009 to settle $335,000 in debt, for which she was stripped of her Certified Financial Planner title in 2010 by that organization's board.

[32] In 2016, Perkins ran for Oregon's 4th congressional district and finished in second place with 32% of the vote in the Republican primary behind Art Robinson.

[33] Perkins was again a candidate in 2018 in Oregon's 4th congressional district, placing third behind Robinson and Court Boice in the Republican primary.

"[22][35] Between entering the race and March 2020, Perkins raised over $25,000 (~$28,999 in 2023) in publicly declared campaign funds, with many donations on WinRed, the official Republican National Convention fundraising platform.

[35] Perkins later received an endorsement and $5000 in donations from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee's political action committee.

[36][37] Perkins won the primary on May 19, 2020, and opposed the Democratic incumbent Senator Jeff Merkley in November for the general election.

[3][4] Perkins spoke at the "Cruise for Trump Campaign Kickoff Rally" alongside Kim Thatcher, a Republican challenger for Secretary of State.

[43] Perkins again ran for U.S. Senate in 2022, vying to unseat longtime Democratic incumbent Ron Wyden.

[44] She announced her campaign at a November 8, 2020 Stop the Steal rally in Salem, Oregon, five days after her loss to Merkley.

She supports accepting permanent residency for undocumented immigrants as long as further measures are taken to secure the Mexico–United States border.

[50] In August 2020, Perkins declared her opposition to the use of masks against COVID-19, saying she had done much research on the issue and distrusted experts and official death statistics.