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.