Overview
- Mills is expected to formally announce her campaign as soon as Tuesday, according to multiple outlets, after a video and ActBlue page announcing a run were posted and then deleted on Friday.
- The deleted clip featured Mills saying she is running to flip the seat and accusing Susan Collins of selling out Maine and bowing to special interests and to Donald Trump.
- The Associated Press reports that national Democratic leaders, including Chuck Schumer, recruited Mills, reflecting the party’s view of Maine as a prime pickup in its effort to narrow the GOP’s 53–47 Senate majority.
- Sanders has publicly opposed a Mills bid and reaffirmed his endorsement of Graham Platner, a progressive oyster farmer and veteran who has drawn substantial small-dollar fundraising.
- Mills, a 77-year-old two-term governor and former attorney general who clashed with President Trump over transgender policy, would enter a crowded primary that also includes Dan Kleban and Jordan Wood to face the five-term incumbent Collins.