Maine Gov. Janet Mills formally launched her campaign for Senate on Tuesday, becoming the highest-profile candidate yet to join a crowded field of Democrats vying to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Mills, 77, has publicly weighed a Senate bid for months and is widely seen as the preferred candidate of national Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. They hope the popular Maine Democrat can defeat Collins, a five-term incumbent who has held office since 1997, in a race the party considers a top battleground of next year’s midterm elections.
If elected, she would be the oldest freshman in U.S. Senate history.
In a video announcing her candidacy, Mills highlighted her in-person confrontation with President Donald Trump over federal funding for Maine earlier this year. She accused Collins of letting “bullies like Trump have their way.”
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“I’ve never backed down from a bully, and I never will,” the governor said.
Mills seemed to accidentally launch her campaign in an X post Friday but quickly deleted it. In the video she said, “Folks, do you want Democrats to take back the Senate? Well, I’m Governor Janet Mills, and I am running to flip Maine’s seat blue.” She also requested constituents to chip in $5 for her campaign.
She is the latest top Democratic recruit to launch a Senate bid this year, joining former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio and former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina, as Democrats mount a long-shot effort to claim a Senate majority in 2026. Republicans have 53 members in the Senate and hold the presidency, meaning Democrats need to gain a net of four seats next year for a majority.
But unlike Brown and Cooper, Mills, a former state attorney general, faces a crowded and potentially highly competitive primary to even become her party’s nominee. At least three other candidates — including former Capitol Hill aide Jordan Wood, local brewery owner Dan Kleban, and oyster farmer Graham Platner — have entered the race and indicated they would stay in the race regardless of whether Mills ran.
Platner, in particular, has made a splash since entering the race this summer, drawing sizable crowds at his events and raising more than $4 million. He’s drawn support from progressive leader Sen. Bernie Sanders, who last week told Mills to stay out of the race and called for Democrats to rally behind Platner.
“I have nothing against Janet Mills, but I think right now, Susan Collins is absolutely beatable,” Sanders previously told NOTUS. “She can be beaten, and I think it would be a really sad state of affairs to have to spend millions of dollars on a divisive primary. We should be focusing on beating Susan Collins, and Platner can do that.”
The Maine seat is a major target for Democrats. It’s the only Republican-held Senate seat up for grabs next year that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris carried in 2024. But it’ll be an uphill climb for whoever ends up being the Democratic nominee: The state hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982. (Sen. Angus King caucuses with Democrats but is an independent.)
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This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS, VTDigger and The Maine Monitor.
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