Maine Governor Janet Mills Announces U.S. Senate Run, Challenging Susan Collins
Maine Governor Janet Mills officially kicked off her campaign for the U.S. Senate on October 23, joining a crowded Democratic primary field vying to challenge Republican Senator Susan Collins in next year's election, according to Portland, Maine's 98.9 WCLZ. Collins has held the seat since 1997, nearly three decades. Mills had initially said she would make a decision by November, before news sources reported last week that she would announce her run this week.
Mills, 77, would be the oldest freshman senator ever if elected. She has sparred with President Donald Trump's administration since January and is framing her run as an effort to check the White House. National Democrats have long tried to recruit Mills, seeing the Maine race as one of their few opportunities to flip a Senate seat and chip away at the Republicans' 53-seat majority next year.
The Democratic field also includes oysterman and veteran Graham Platner and former congressional staffer Jordan Wood. On Tuesday, another Democrat in the race, Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleben, dropped out and endorsed Mills.
Mills is term-limited as governor, having been elected twice, in 2018 and 2022; she defeated former Republican Governor Paul LePage for her second term. After announcing, Mills was scheduled to speak alongside Maine lawyers at a public forum on Tuesday night on standing up for the rule of law, at the University of Southern Maine's Hannaford Hall in Portland. The Collins campaign had not yet responded to Mills's announcement.
Source: GSM · America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：缅因州州长珍妮特·米尔斯（资料图）。照片：美国国际贸易管理局（International Trade Administration），公有领域，取自 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: Maine Governor Janet Mills (file photo). Photo: International Trade Administration, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
