Summary
- Maine
Gov. Janet Mills plans to run for U.S. Senate in 2026. - She
will challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. - Mills
is a two-term governor, popular with Maine voters.
The insider warned that because of
the continuing government shutdown, the announcement date may change.
Mills, a former attorney general
and two-time governor, is a top target for Democrats seeking an experienced
challenger to the incumbent’s five-year term.
However, Mills is entering a
crowded field of political newcomers, some of whom have promised to remain in
the campaign regardless of Mills’s decision to run. The degree to which state
voters choose experience over generational change will be put to the test in
the Democratic primary.
Oysterman Graham Platner, brewery
businessman Dan Kleban, and former US House staffer Jordan Wood, Mills’ main
rivals, have never held public office but contend they are more knowledgeable
than the 72-year-old incumbent Collins about the affordability issues affecting
Maine voters.
In addition to having a track
record of winning statewide, Mills, 77, would become the oldest freshman
senator in US history if she were elected.
Additionally, Mills has demonstrated
a willingness to challenge the administration at a time when Democrats are also
searching for warriors to oppose President Donald Trump. Mills argued with
Trump about federal money for transgender athletes during a meeting between the
president and governors earlier this year.
Maine is perhaps where Democrats
have the best chance of regaining the Senate or cutting down on Republicans’
three-seat lead. In a state that was won by then-Vice President Kamala Harris
in 2024, Collins is the only Republican senator running for reelection the
following year.
Collins was first elected to the
Senate in 1996, and Democrats know he will be hard to defeat. She voted to
approve Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, which infuriated Democrats, who
saw an opportunity to remove her in 2020. Millions of dollars were invested in
a fund to support a potential opponent of Collins.
Even though President Joe Biden
won the state by a comparable percentage, Collins was reelected by over nine
points.
In North Carolina, where former
two-term Governor Roy Cooper will fight for an open seat, Democrats have
secured notable newcomers. Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed earlier this year
to the position previously occupied by Vice President JD Vance, is facing off
against former Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio.
