Maine Governor Janet Mills, 78, made the shock announcement that she was exiting the race for Senate on Thursday after trailing her primary opponent for months in the polls.
Mills was fiercely recruited to join the primary by Democrats in Washington, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as they look to unseat GOP Senator Susan Collins, 73, in the state which is seen as one of the greatest flip opportunities in 2026.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer lavished praise on Mills despite criticism that she joined a group of older Democratic candidates rather than the party promoting younger recruits.
If she had been elected, Mills would have been the oldest freshman senator ever to be sworn into office, beating the record set last year when West Virginia Senator Jim Justice became the oldest freshman at 73.
However, the Democratic governor said it was campaign financial challenges, not her age, that forced her to bow out of the race.
“While I have the drive and passion, commitment and experience, and above all else—the fight—to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources,” Mills said in a statement. “That is why today I have made the incredibly difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the United States Senate.”
Her exit from the race paves the way for Democratic opponent Graham Platner to become the nominee, as he has gained grassroots momentum since launching his own campaign last year to unseat the five-term Republican senator.
The 41-year-old oyster farmer and military veteran is running as a progressive with the backing of senators including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Martin Heinrich.
Recent polling showed Graham doing much better against Collins than Mills in the general election. The MPRC poll earlier this month showed Graham leading Collins by nine points. At the same time, it showed Collins winning a race against Mills by three points.
With Mills out of the race, Democrats are going to avoid an ugly and expensive primary as they look ahead to the general election. Mills did not mention Platner in her statement, but he praised her on Thursday.
“Governor Mills has dedicated her career to this beautiful state. We’re all eternally grateful for her service to the state of Maine as Governor, and her lifelong career serving Mainers as Attorney General, as district attorney, and in the legislature,” he said. “We both got into this race because we knew how critical it is to defeat Susan Collins, and her decision today reflects a commitment to that project.”
Despite Graham’s stronger standing in the polls, Republican groups appeared absolutely giddy about Mills’ ending her campaign on Thursday as Platner, who has never before run for federal office, has faced a series of controversies since entering the race.
Platner has come under fire for the use of a slur in past online posts and for having a Nazi-linked tattoo he got while serving in the Marines. He has since had it covered up and called it a mistake from his youth.
The Republican National Committee immediately blasted him as a “Nazi sympathizing self-proclaimed communist.” It referenced now-deleted Reddit posts, uncovered by CNN, in which he once referred to himself as a “communist” and made other derogatory remarks. Platner said he regretted making the comments, which he said came from frustration during a darker period of his life. He said he no longer holds those views.
But Mills announced her exit from the race. Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Senator Kirsten Gillibrand praised her for standing up to bullies, but they threw their support behind Platner.
“After years of allowing Trump’s abuses of power, Senator Collins has never been more vulnerable and we will work with the presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner to defeat her,” they said.
