Washington — Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced Thursday that she is suspending her campaign for Senate, all but ensuring Graham Platner will get the Democratic nomination to take on incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in one of November’s most important Senate races.
“While I have the drive and the 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 require today: the financial resources,” Mills said in a statement.
Maine is a top target for Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections, since Collins is the only Republican senator from a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had recruited Mills, the only Democrat to have won statewide in Maine in 25 years, to challenge Collins. But her age — she will be 79 on Election Day — had been a concern for Democrats in the state. Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer and political newcomer, has mounted a strong challenge for the nomination, fueled by his popularity online and on social media. Platner raised $4 million in the first three months of 2026 alone.
