Maine Governor Janet Mills will run for U.S. Senate 2026.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority leader, urged her to run.
Maine Governor Janet Mills, a two-term Maine governor and Democrat in Washington, has been recruited to join the Democratic team in 2026 in the battle for Senate majority. Janet Mills announced on Tuesday that she would be running against long-time Republican Senator Susan Collins.
Chuck Schumer sees the long-anticipated launch of the Democratic Governor’s campaign as a win for him.
Mills was urged to run by the top Democrat of the Senate, who sees Mills as the best candidate for defeating Collins. Collins is the only Republican senator running for reelection in a state that the Democrats won in the 2016 presidential election. Collins’ defeat is essential for Democrats to win back the Senate majority.
Before she can reach the general election, Mills will have to navigate through a primary that is likely to be competitive and could cause division among the many candidates. This includes a younger rising star from the left, who is backed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Bernie Sanders wasn’t happy with the fact that Democrat leaders encouraged Mills to run.
Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has endorsed Platner and urged Mills to run for the seat, said on X that it was a “disappointing thing” that party leaders were urging Mills. He added, “We should focus on winning this seat & avoid wasting millions on dividing primary.”
Mills said that she “had to chuckle” when Sanders made his comments. She said that Sanders was “very familiar” with the primaries, pointing to his Democratic presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020.
“Principals are good for a democratic system.” “I look forward to an open and civil discussion and debate of the issues,” said she.
Mills has said that she does not have any thoughts about supporting Schumer to be the next Democratic leader.
