Maine Gov. Janet Mills Tuesday launched a Democratic campaign in a pivotal Senate race to unseat Republican Susan Collins, but she’ll have to win a primary against photogenic progressive oysterman first.
Mills, a 77-year-old two-term incumbent, vowed to stand up to President Trump and slammed Collins for acting as a fig leaf for the White House’s right-wing agenda.
“I think the moment demands a lot more than we’re seeing from Susan Collins,” Mills said. “It demands a fighter and someone who will stand up and fight for the future of democracy and fight for the interests of Maine people, just as I have done for my entire career.”
Mills is a proven vote-winner and was heavily recruited by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who believes she is the best bet to end Collins’ three decade run in the Senate from the blue-trending Pine Tree State.
But Mills faces a potentially formidable foe in Graham Platner, a working class oyster farmer and political newcomer who has become a sensation with a message of generational change aimed at both Mills and Collins.
Platner, 41, has been barnstorming the state, drawing big crowds even in rural Republican areas, and has already scored the endorsement of progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). Beer company founder Dan Kleban is also running.
Mills insists that she’s no pushover herself, spotlighting the viral moment when she stood up to Trump and warned he would “see you in court” when he sought to bully her over transgender sports in schools at a White House gathering of governors last winter.
“I’ll stand up to Trump, just as I did in February,” Mills said. “I’ve spent the better part of my career listening to loud men talk tough to disguise their weaknesses.”
Collins, who hasn’t announced her reelection bid yet, didn’t comment on Mills’ entry into the race. A GOP campaign group denounced her for liberal stances on LGBTQ rights and undocumented immigrants.
The Maine race amounts to a must-win for Democrats as they mount an uphill battle to win back control of the Senate, which Republicans hold 53-47.
Maine is the only state that Trump lost in 2024 where a Republican incumbent is on the ballot in 2026.
Democrats have high hopes of picking up a seat in swingy North Carolina, where Sen. Thom Tillis isn’t running for reelection, but other races look like serious long shots like red-trending Iowa and Ohio or Texas.
Collins casts herself as a reflection of Maine’s independent moderate political tradition and often expresses “concern” or “alarm” over Trump’s more extreme moves.
But Democrats point out she usually votes with Trump when the chips are down on key issues, like confirming anti-abortion Supreme Court justices and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.
