Mills Drops Out of Maine Senate Race as Dems’ Left Wing Ascends

In a victory for the Democratic party’s left flank, Maine Democrat Gov. Janet Mills has dropped out of the state’s Senate race, effectively ceding the party’s nomination to Graham Platner to take on Republican incumbent Susan Collins.

The 78-year-old governor’s departure, which she says is due to lack of campaign funds, comes after months of trailing Platner in polls and fundraising totals.

Maine is an important target for Democrats, who must net an additional four seats in order to gain control of the Senate.

“I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources,” Mills wrote in a Thursday morning statement. 

Mills did not endorse Platner in the statement.

In a late March poll from Emerson College, Mills trailed Platner by a 27-point margin, 55% to 28%, with 13% undecided. Before her announcement, Mills’ campaign had cut digital ad buys.

Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer, has plenty of baggage, as his opponents have called attention to his past online posts saying that women should “act like an adult” to avoid rape and ridiculing rural white voters and black people.

Platner has asked voters to look past his online history, saying, “I’m asking you not to judge me for the worst thing I said on the internet on my worst day 14 years ago.”

Platner has branded himself as an anti-establishment Democrat, blasting Senate Democrats for acceding to Republicans in previous shutdown fights. An ally of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., he has also accused Israel of committing “genocide” and supported populist proposals such as “Medicare for All.”

His campaign has employed strategist Morris Katz, who assisted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s successful campaign.

He will face off against a resilient opponent in Collins, a moderate Republican from a prominent political family seeking a sixth term.

In 2020, Collins defeated her Democrat opponent by over eight points despite having trailed in every public poll.

Collins said in a statement Thursday, “I’m sure this was a difficult decision for Governor Mills, and I thank her for her decades of service to the people of Maine.”

The Daily Signal reached out to Platner’s campaign for comment, but did not hear back by publication time.