Maine Gov. Janet Mills abandoned her bid for the U.S. Senate on Thursday, citing insufficient campaign funds and acknowledging her lag behind Democratic primary rival Graham Platner in the race to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
"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 announcing her withdrawal.
Mills launched her Senate campaign in October but quickly lost ground to Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran who entered the race as a political newcomer and rapidly built a fervent grassroots base. The contrast in momentum became impossible to ignore. Platner secured endorsements from prominent progressives including Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, then pulled ahead by double digits in recent primary polling.
The Democratic establishment had recruited Mills as their top weapon against Collins, who remains one of the few Republican senators representing a state that voted against President Donald Trump in the last election. Senate Democrats viewed Mills as the strongest general election candidate and threw their institutional support behind her. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee backed her candidacy.
Collins has proven formidable in past elections, and Maine figures prominently in Democratic calculations for 2026. The party needs to flip four seats to reclaim the Senate majority, making the state practically essential to that strategy.
Mills, 78, had tried to address age concerns by pledging to serve only one term. But some Democratic voters remained skeptical and apparently sided with Platner, who presented himself as a fresher alternative. Mills countered that Platner's controversial past social media posts would become liabilities in a general election against Collins.
Platner's Reddit history included comments downplaying sexual assault and criticism of law enforcement and rural Americans. The former Army and Marine Corps veteran, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, attributed the inflammatory statements to struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair Kirsten Gillibrand released a statement emphasizing party determination to win control of the Senate without directly addressing Platner or Mills' exit. "Our North Star is winning a Democratic Senate majority, and over the past year, Senate Democrats have carved out multiple paths to do that," Gillibrand said.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Mills had the establishment machinery and Schumer's blessing, but Platner's outsider energy proved irresistible to Maine Democrats who appear willing to take a real shot with him rather than play it safe with experience."
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