Janet Mills Drops Out of United States Senate Race, Clearing Platner
Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the Maine united states senate race, and Graham Platner is now the presumptive Democratic nominee. Senate Democratic leaders who backed Mills said they will work with Platner to defeat Susan Collins, resetting the party’s strategy before the general election.
Schumer and Gillibrand shift
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand said they will work with the presumptive Democratic nominee, Graham Platner. Their move follows Mills’ exit and ends the split between the party’s centrist leaders and Democrats who backed Platner early, including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego and Martin Heinrich.
Platner built his case in the late summer and early fall of 2025 by criss-crossing Maine with town halls and other events. Since August, he has drawn huge crowds, while Mills never caught up to his polling. Her campaign also stopped ad spending after attacks on Platner over a Nazi-related tattoo from his time in the Marines and old controversial Reddit posts failed to gain traction.
Maine Democrats realign
The race had already become a test of the party’s progressive and centrist wings. Maine Democrats backed a data center moratorium bill that Mills vetoed last week, adding another point of strain between her and the party base before she dropped out.
Mills also signaled in mid-April that she would have voted against a Senate bill restricting U.S. aid for 1,000 pound bombs and armored bulldozers. That position, along with the veto fight, left her out of step with the activists and lawmakers who had moved early behind Platner.
Tim Walz will host a general election kickoff event with Platner on Friday, giving the Maine Democrat another public showing of party backing after the reshuffle. For Democrats, the practical question now is whether the new alignment gives Platner a clear path to unify the party before the general election against Collins.
