Maine Gov. Janet Mills Tuesday launched a Democratic marketing campaign in a pivotal Senate race to unseat Republican Susan Collins, however she’ll need to win a major towards photogenic progressive oysterman first.
Mills, a 77-year-old two-term incumbent, vowed to face as much as President Trump and slammed Collins for performing as a fig leaf for the White Home’s right-wing agenda.
“I think the moment demands a lot more than we’re seeing from Susan Collins,” Mills stated. “It demands a fighter and someone who will stand up and fight for the future of democracy and fight for the interests of Maine people, just as I have done for my entire career.”
Mills is a confirmed vote-winner and was closely recruited by Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, who believes she is the perfect guess to finish Collins’ three decade run within the Senate from the blue-trending Pine Tree State.
However Mills faces a doubtlessly formidable foe in Graham Platner, a working class oyster farmer and political newcomer who has grow to be a sensation with a message of generational change aimed toward each Mills and Collins.
Platner, 41, has been barnstorming the state, drawing large crowds even in rural Republican areas, and has already scored the endorsement of progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). Beer firm founder Dan Kleban can be working.
Mills insists that she’s no pushover herself, spotlighting the viral second when she stood as much as Trump and warned he would “see you in court” when he sought to bully her over transgender sports activities in faculties at a White Home gathering of governors final winter.
“I’ll stand up to Trump, just as I did in February,” Mills stated. “I’ve spent the better part of my career listening to loud men talk tough to disguise their weaknesses.”
Collins, who hasn’t introduced her reelection bid but, didn’t touch upon Mills’ entry into the race. A GOP marketing campaign group denounced her for liberal stances on LGBTQ rights and undocumented immigrants.
The Maine race quantities to a must-win for Democrats as they mount an uphill battle to win again management of the Senate, which Republicans maintain 53-47.
Maine is the one state that Trump misplaced in 2024 the place a Republican incumbent is on the poll in 2026.
Democrats have excessive hopes of selecting up a seat in swingy North Carolina, the place Sen. Thom Tillis isn’t working for reelection, however different races appear to be critical lengthy photographs like red-trending Iowa and Ohio or Texas.
Collins casts herself as a mirrored image of Maine’s unbiased average political custom and sometimes expresses “concern” or “alarm” over Trump’s extra excessive strikes.
However Democrats level out she often votes with Trump when the chips are down on key points, like confirming anti-abortion Supreme Court docket justices and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well being secretary.
