Maine Gov Janet Mills announces 2026 Senate bid to challenge Susan Collins

Washington Democrats secured one other high-profile recruit within the 2026 battle for the Senate majority, as two-term Maine Gov. Janet Mills introduced her candidacy Tuesday within the race to tackle longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The long-awaited marketing campaign launch by the veteran 77-year-old Democratic governor is being seen as a victory for Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer.

The highest Democrat within the Senate urged Mills to run and sees her as one of the best candidate to defeat Collins, the one Republican senator up for re-election subsequent 12 months in a state that Democrats carried within the presidential election. A Collins defeat can be important for Democrats to have any likelihood of regaining the Senate majority.

However earlier than she reaches the overall election, Mills should first navigate a probable aggressive and doubtlessly divisive major amongst a crowded subject of candidates, together with a a lot youthful rising star on the left who’s backed by longtime progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

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FILE – Democratic Gov. Janet Mills delivers her State of the State tackle, Jan. 30, 2024, on the State Home in Augusta, Maine. (Robert F. Bukaty, File/AP Photograph)

“I’ve by no means backed down from a bully and by no means will,” the governor mentioned in an announcement as she launched her marketing campaign. “Donald Trump is depriving thousands and thousands of well being care, driving up prices and giving big tax cuts to company CEOs. And Susan Collins helps him.”

Mills’ marketing campaign launch video highlighted the White Home assembly of governors in February, the place President Donald Trump confronted her for ignoring his government order barring trans athletes from competing in women’ and ladies’s sports activities.

Trump instructed Mills, “You will not get federal funding,” if she did not comply, to which she responded, “We’ll see you in court docket.”

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Mills, a former elected district lawyer and former state legislator, made historical past as Maine’s first feminine lawyer normal.

She later gained election in 2018 as Maine’s first feminine governor, and in 2022 she comfortably defeated former Republican Governor Paul LePage by double digits to win re-election.

Tuesday’s launch comes after the Mills marketing campaign appeared to leap ship final week with a shortly deleted social media put up and a video on Friday asserting her candidacy.

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Though she might be thought-about the front-runner for the Democratic Senate nomination, her sturdy title recognition in blue-leaning Maine may assist her face a severe problem from 41-year-old Graham Platner, a U.S. Navy and Military veteran and oyster farmer who launched his marketing campaign in August.

Platner, who has raised greater than $3 million in fundraising within the first six weeks of his candidacy, is being endorsed by Sanders, the two-time Democratic presidential nominee who not too long ago stopped in Maine to steer a marketing campaign rally.

Graham Platner, a U.S. Navy and Military veteran and oyster farmer, launched a Democratic run for U.S. Senate in Maine in August (Graham Platner Marketing campaign)

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In a warning to Mills, Sanders mentioned on social media final week that “Graham Platner is a superb working-class candidate for Senate in Maine who will defeat Susan Collins.”

“It is disappointing that some Democratic leaders are urging Governor Mills to run. We should always deal with successful that seat and never waste thousands and thousands on pointless and divisive primaries,” Sanders added.

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Different candidates vying for the Democratic Senate nomination embrace Dan Kleban, co-founder of the Maine Beer Co., and former Congressman Jordan Wooden, who took in about $3 million in fundraising in the course of the third quarter of July and September.

Phil Rench, former senior engineer at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is working as an unbiased candidate.

“Maine Democrats are locked in a nail-biting battle between Chuck Schumer’s out-of-touch institution and Bernie Sanders’ far-left radicals.“ Joanna Rodriguez, communications director for the Nationwide Republican Senatorial Committee, charged this in an announcement as Mills entered the race.

And Rodriguez argued that “Janet Mills needs to be the oldest freshman senator in American historical past, following a collection of failures which have made Maine one of many weakest economies in New England. No matter which Democrat emerges, we’re assured that Mainers will proceed to depend on unbiased problem-solver Susan Collins to proceed to ship outcomes for them.”

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine is up for re-election within the 2026 midterm elections. (Mark Makela/Getty Pictures)

Collins, 72, a reasonable Republican, first gained election to the Senate in 1996. She at the moment chairs the influential Senate Committee.

Collins comfortably gained re-election by double digits in 2002, 2008 and 2014.

In her 2020 reelection, Collins ran towards Democratic state Home Speaker Sara Gideon in a hotly contested race that grew to become the costliest in Maine historical past. Though polls confirmed Collins trailing her Democratic challenger, she in the end gained the election by greater than eight factors.

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Mills turns into the third main Senate recruit for Democrats this 12 months, following former Governor Roy Cooper in North Carolina and former Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio.

Republicans at the moment management the Senate 53-47.