The likely Tuesday entrance of Gov. Janet Mills into the 2026 race against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins will instantly upend a primary contest that will also serve as a referendum over the future of the Democratic Party.
Mills, 77, is a former attorney general whose centrist views and use of her veto pen have put her at odds with Democratic state lawmakers who control Augusta on numerous issues. She contrasts with insurgent candidate Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Sullivan oysterman and military veteran who has drawn large crowds, received an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and raised more than $4 million since his August campaign launch.
Age and ideology are important parts of the high-stakes battle over which candidate Maine Democrats will pick to face Collins. She will receive plenty of support from national Republicans despite occasionally irking President Donald Trump. It will be perhaps the top race on the national map as the parties decide control of the Senate in 2026.
“That’s what in part this race is about, just to make sure [Trump] doesn’t control the House and Senate,” Peter Mills, the governor’s brother and a former Republican lawmaker, said. “I think there’s a huge majority of American voters who feel he should not have a majority.”
Ousting Collins will be difficult. She beat former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon fairly comfortably in 2020 after polls ahead of that expensive election showed the incumbent losing, and she has easily defeated other past challengers. Republicans have predicted up to $600 million in spending on the race, which would triple the record sum from six years ago.
Mills will be betting on her experience as a Democrat who has won statewide elections, including when she trounced former Republican Gov. Paul LePage in 2022. She gained national attention earlier this year when Trump targeted her and Maine’s federal funding over transgender athlete policies.
But the primary field is not getting cleared for her. Platner’s launch was impressive. Other candidates, including former Capitol Hill operative Jordan Wood and Maine Beer Company cofounder Dan Kleban along with a handful of less-active Democrats, may hang in the race but see little room for them to compete as the June primary inches closer.
Platner and his supporters have been especially vocal in opposing “mainstream” or “establishment” Democrats, with Sanders saying Platner can beat Collins and scolding Democrats last week for encouraging Mills to enter the race. Platner was cordial Monday in saying he welcomes Mills into the race before alluding to how voters prefer a new face.
“Everywhere I hear the same thing: people are ready for change,” Platner said in a statement. “They know the system is broken and they know that politicians who have been working in the system for years, like Susan Collins, are not going to fix it.”
Wood, a Bristol resident who got an early start in the race by announcing his bid in April, has raised more than $3 million while holding town halls around the state. He said in a statement voters “consistently tell me they want an open and vibrant primary process.”
“With so much at stake, Mainers want to decide which candidate can defeat Susan Collins, defend our democracy from Donald Trump and deliver for working families,” Wood added.
Kleban, who launched his campaign last month, did not respond to a request for comment. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and other Democrats at the national level had previously spoken with Mills about challenging Collins, the lone Republican senator to hold a seat in a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024.
The Mills recruitment effort echoed the one that got former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in his state’s open Senate race this summer, with Cooper raising $3.4 million in 24 hours. After word spread Friday of Mills’ likely entrance into the Senate race this week, her campaign had slipped by posting and then deleting a fundraising video.
A Mills launch will likely keep away other Democrats who mulled bids but were waiting for the governor to make a decision. They include Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau of Biddeford and former state Sen. Cathy Breen of Falmouth. Neither of them responded to a request for comment.
