Democratic Maine Governor Janet Mills takes on US Senator Susan Collins

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By Nolan D. McCaskill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Maine Governor Janet Mills launched a U.S. Senate campaign on Tuesday, joining a crowded field of Democrats hoping to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins with a campaign that intends to portray the incumbent as an out-of-step defender of President Donald Trump.

Mills, a 77-year-old popular two-term governor, enters the race as the establishment favorite. But her candidacy sets up a high-profile primary clash with oysterman Graham Platner, a progressive outsider who raised $3.25 million in the first six weeks of his campaign.

Mills, who is more moderate than Platner, is the only Democratic candidate in the race who has won elections.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat, quickly endorsed Mills on Tuesday, calling her “a proven leader who knows how to win in Maine.”

The Democratic field also includes former U.S. Representative Katie Porter’s chief of staff Jordan Wood, whose campaign said it has raised more than $3 million since launching on April 23. Maine Beer Company founder Dan Kleban, who announced his candidacy on September 3, suspended his campaign Tuesday afternoon.

“I believe Governor Mills will win next year,” said Kleban, who added that Mills would help address “pressing issues” Mainers face, such as high costs around housing, healthcare, groceries and energy.

Though Collins, 72, is a formidable incumbent who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, Maine is perhaps Senate Democrats’ best pickup opportunity on the 2026 map. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the state in last November’s presidential election by nearly 7 percentage points.

Democrats are also targeting North Carolina, where incumbent Republican Senator Thom Tillis is not seeking reelection. Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, is expected to face former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley.

DEMOCRATS FACE TOUGH BATTLE FOR SENATE MAJORITY

Senate Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority. If Democrats are able to flip Maine and North Carolina, they would still need to defend seats in several battlegrounds — including Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire — and win seats in deeply Republican states, such as Ohio and Texas or Iowa, to secure a majority.

National Democrats see Mills as the candidate best positioned to unseat Collins, who was first elected to the Senate in 1996 and won her last race against former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon by 8 points in 2020. Mills won her 2018 election for governor by 8 points and was reelected in a nearly 13-point win over former Republican Governor Paul LePage in 2022.

While addressing governors at the White House in February, Trump singled out Mills and threatened to withhold federal funds from Maine over transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ and women’s sports.

The Trump administration sued Maine on April 16, alleging the state violated Title IX, which affords legal protection against sex discrimination, by allowing transgender girls and women to participate in girls’ and women’s sports.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, lamented that Democratic leaders nudged Mills to run for Senate. Sanders has endorsed Platner.

“Graham Platner is a great working-class candidate for Senate in Maine who will defeat Susan Collins,” Sanders wrote on X last week. “We need to focus on winning that seat & not waste millions on an unnecessary & divisive primary.”

(Reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell, Richard Cowan, Deepa Babington and Aurora Ellis)