{"id":3107,"date":"2026-05-01T14:21:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3107"},"modified":"2026-05-01T14:21:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:21:00","slug":"how-janet-mills-was-boxed-out-of-the-maine-senate-race-by-graham-platners-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3107","title":{"rendered":"How Janet Mills was boxed out of the Maine Senate race by Graham Platner\u2019s rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

By the time Maine Gov. Janet Mills\u00a0launched her Senate campaign in October,\u00a0Graham Platner<\/a>\u00a0was already drawing large crowds and raising impressive amounts of money.<\/p>\n

The then-77-year-old governor was running for office at a time when many in her party were agitating for generational change. But Mills supporters \u2013 including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer \u2013 thought she could prevail with a pitch for electability based on her statewide name recognition, backing from Senate Democratic leadership and a tidal wave of opposition research on Platner.<\/p>\n

They were wrong, and on Thursday, Mills ended her campaign weeks before the June 9 primary.<\/p>\n

She cited difficulties raising money, but the decision also revealed how Democrats are spurning traditional politicians in the midterms for untested outsiders who are promising to take a more aggressive stance toward President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Platner struck a gracious tone, applauding Mills\u2019 long record of public service and their shared dedication to defeating Republican Sen. Susan Collins. But some of his supporters were openly ecstatic about his improbable triumph over Mills.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy feet aren\u2019t even on the ground,\u201d state Rep. Valli Geiger said during a news conference with Platner after Mills\u2019 announcement. \u201cI am so excited about today, not because our governor had to submit to the inevitable and suspend her campaign, but because of what it says about the politics of what is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats have\u00a0long faced an uphill battle to retake the Senate majority\u00a0in November, but Maine has always been at the top of their target list. Collins is seeking a sixth term in a state that her party\u2019s president, Donald Trump, lost three times,\u00a0including by 7 percentage points in 2024.<\/p>\n

But Collins has outlasted national headwinds before, and Mills supporters believed the governor was the kind of hardened political veteran up for the task.<\/p>\n

An\u00a0oyster farmer and military veteran\u00a0nearly half the age of Mills, Platner provided a sharp contrast in the primary, especially as he railed against the ultra-wealthy, lambasted foreign entanglements and called for new Democratic leadership in Washington. He racked up big-name endorsements early on, including from independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who warned against a Mills candidacy days before her launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to focus on winning that seat & not waste millions on an unnecessary & divisive primary,\u201d Sanders\u00a0wrote on X at the time.<\/p>\n

The primary reignited a debate over how much Senate Democratic leaders should be involved in intraparty battles. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who has sparred in the past with Democratic leaders over campaign strategy, did not criticize Schumer on Thursday for backing Mills \u2013 but said Democrats can \u201ccertainly\u201d learn from Platner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be learning from candidates who are performing and speaking and resonating with the American people,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said, adding that Platner\u2019s campaign, with its strong focus on in-person events, reminded her of her 2018 primary upset.<\/p>\n

Despite his early momentum, Platner encountered weeks of turbulence after Mills declared her candidacy as multiple outlets reported on offensive comments he made on social media in the past.<\/p>\n

In some of the posts, Platner denigrated police and said rural White Americans \u201cactually are\u201d racist and stupid,\u00a0CNN\u2019s KFile reported last year. Platner has disavowed the posts and others that have surfaced, saying they do not reflect who he is today.<\/p>\n

Platner has also faced extensive scrutiny over the discovery of a tattoo on his chest featuring an image resembling a Nazi symbol. He said he regretted getting it and had it covered.<\/p>\n

Mills did not immediately commit to supporting Platner. A campaign spokesperson said in a statement that she would not vote for Collins but continue to support Democratic candidates and monitor \u201chow Graham Platner works to earn the support of Maine voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Mills didn\u2019t take off<\/h3>\n

Shortly after announcing her campaign, Mills sought to assuage concerns about her age by pledging to serve only one term if elected. But she struggled to catch up to Platner in fundraising and polling. He raised $4.1 million to her $2.7 million in the first quarter of the year, and a February poll by the University of New Hampshire gave Platner a huge lead, 64% to 26%, over Mills.<\/p>\n

She sought to jolt the race in March by releasing a series of negative ads focused on Platner\u2019s social media posts. The\u00a0first spot\u00a0featured a group of women reading about comments he made criticizing rape victims, expressing outrage and saying they could not vote for him.<\/p>\n

Platner countered with a direct-to-camera commercial where he reiterated the regret he felt over the posts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaine, I\u2019m asking you not to judge me for the worst thing I said on the internet on my worst day 14 years ago,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As March turned to April, it began to seem the anti-Platner ad blitz was not enough to derail Platner. Many Democrats in Maine and nationally began to view Platner\u2019s advantages over Mills as insurmountable.<\/p>\n

Her campaign called off an April 21 fundraiser in Washington, DC, due to scheduling issues in Maine, according to a Mills ally with knowledge of the event. But the ally said it was not clear if she ever intended to reschedule the event before the primary.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not breaking through and she\u2019s running out of time to course correct,\u201d one national Democratic strategist told CNN earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Mills made the decision to suspend her decision on Wednesday night, according to a source familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

In a Thursday morning statement announcing her decision, Mills said that while she had \u201cthe fight\u201d to continue her campaign, she lacked the \u201cfinancial resources\u201d to do so. Platner said he reached out to her afterward to personally thank her for her service; it is unclear if they connected.<\/p>\n

Platner spent Thursday traveling the state to roll out endorsements from a group of state lawmakers, an announcement that was planned while Mills was still in the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had a really good tough New England, badass woman brand and I\u2019m all for that and excited about it. It just never materialized in this race,\u201d said one influential national Democratic fundraiser who decided to back Platner. \u201cThere hasn\u2019t felt like very much hustle \u2013 nationally at least \u2013 especially when you\u2019re up against a guy who is hustling like hell in this race.\u201d<\/p>\n

A defeat for Schumer<\/h3>\n

Mills\u2019 withdrawal from the race marks a rare defeat for Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which have\u00a0otherwise recruited strong candidates in other states that are key to a majority, such as former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina and former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio. Democrats must net four seats in November to take control of the Senate.<\/p>\n

Asked Thursday by CNN\u2019s Manu Raju whether he misread the Maine electorate by backing Mills, Schumer did not directly answer the question. \u201cWe are going to take back the Senate and win Maine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Platner has long been critical of Schumer, calling for his ouster as Senate Democratic leader and arguing he is not acting urgently enough to counter Trump.<\/p>\n

Schumer and the DSCC chair, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, signaled support for Platner in a statement about Mills\u2019s decision, saying Collins \u201chas never been more vulnerable and we will work with the presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner to defeat her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other national Democratic groups were more enthusiastic. A spokesperson for Senate Majority PAC, which is the top Democratic super PAC in Senate races, said in a statement that Platner \u201chas brought a new energy to the campaign.\u201d And leaders with the Democratic National Committee talked with Platner\u2019s campaign after Mills announced her exit, according to a source familiar with the conversation.<\/p>\n

Platner said during the news conference that he had gotten \u201creach-out\u201d from the DSCC but had not spoken with anyone there yet.<\/p>\n

Republicans celebrate<\/h3>\n

Republicans reacted with glee, eager to highlight the liberal positions that Platner took during the primary as well as his social media posts and now-covered tattoo.<\/p>\n

\u201cChuck Schumer and Senate Democrats just coronated a phony who is too extreme for Maine,\u201d Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Collins declined to pile on in a one-sentence statement that only addressed Mills. Collins, who has maintained a cordial relationship with Mills, said she \u201csure this was a difficult decision for Governor Mills, and I thank her for her decades of services to the people of Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking with Raju on Capitol Hill, Collins declined to answer questions about Platner, including whether she believes he is easier to beat than Mills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to get into the November election at this point,\u201d she said, later adding, \u201cI\u2019m not going to get into playing pundit in this race.\u201d<\/p>\n

This headline and story have been updated with additional information.<\/em><\/p>\n

CNN\u2019s Arlette Saenz, Manu Raju, Dana Bash and Alison Main contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at\u00a0CNN.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By the time Maine Gov. Janet Mills\u00a0launched her Senate campaign in October,\u00a0Graham Platner\u00a0was already drawing large crowds and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,7,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-news","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3109,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3107\/revisions\/3109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}