Video: Diana Allen responds to the attacks on Tom Allen.

PORTLAND -- U.S. Rep. Tom Allen (D-Portland) is construing an attack by his opponent, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor), as a personal one.

Collins recently released an ad criticizing Allen for missing 157 votes in his 12 years in Congress. Collins has a perfect record.

Allen held a press conference at his Portland home Tuesday, and denounced the attacks alongside his wife, Diana, and daughter, Gwen. There, he called the issue of missed votes “ugly, personal and petty,” and accused Collins of using it as a diversion from discussing the real issues.

Being in the House, Allen said he has to vote twice as often. The 157 votes amount to less than 2 percent of all votes cast.

Many of those were for family reasons, he said. He cited the following circumstances:

-In 1998, he missed votes for his daughter’s wedding

-In 2001 and 2003 he missed votes when his parents were dying

-In 2007, he missed votes for a family funeral

-This year, he missed votes to be with his wife, who was diagnosed with cancer

Collins’ campaign, in a release today, painted a different picture. Collins has said she would never criticize him for missing votes for the family reasons he cited, but instead points to a situation when he went to a baseball game with a friend, and when he went to a campaign fundraiser in California.

“That’s beside the point,” Allen said when asked about these circumstances. “Of course, if you’re running for statewide office you need to be on the campaign trail … It’s not that important. It’s a phony issue.”

When pushed by a reporter about specific votes, Allen said: “See, you’re going right where she (Collins) wants you to go.”

Collins’ campaign also pointed to 41 instances where Allen was in Washington when he missed votes.

“How does he explain missing 41 votes when he was right there in Washington?” said spokesman Kevin Kelley in a release. “41 times he skipped votes on days when he cast votes both before and after the votes he missed. That’s on top of the votes he missed so he could go to the All-Star game, the votes he missed so he could attend a Hollywood fundraiser, or even the votes he missed for an expenses paid trip to Florida. Why did he miss 41 votes when he was actually in Washington?”

Allen explains that some of those votes were procedural and were only open for two or five minutes. In no case did his absence affect the outcome, he said.

About 18 of those votes missed were for motions such as adjournment, approval of the journal or hour of meeting, according to a list by the Washington Post.

The Post has a list of “key votes” taken since 2005. Of those, Allen missed one: To give federal courts jurisdiction in the Terri Schiavo dispute.

The House has different dynamics than the Senate – and no House member is expected to make every vote, Allen said. According to the Washington Post, there are only four members with a perfect record.

“Listen, the voters are not worried about a 98 percent or a 100 percent voting record. We need to draw attention to the real issues,” Allen said. “This is what the William Ayers (attack) was all about.”

After a recent debate, Collins’ campaign manager Steve Abbott told PolitickerME.com that despite the different dynamics in the House and Senate, the campaign’s argument remains valid. If Allen wants to serve in the other chamber, Abbott said, he should show that he is up to the job.

Click here for a list of Allen’s missed votes. Click here for a complete list of congressmen and how many votes each one missed, all compiled by the Washington Post.