Maine Gov. Janet Mills suspended her U.S. Senate campaign Thursday, citing a lack of money, and leaving Democrats stuck with a nominee whose own social media history reads like opposition-research gold for Republicans.
Mills, 78, launched her bid in October to challenge GOP Sen. Susan Collins. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had touted her as their top recruit in a state President Donald Trump lost last year. But the governor's campaign largely stopped airing television ads at the end of March, NBC News reported, citing ad-tracking firm AdImpact. By Thursday, the money was gone.
Her exit clears the Democratic primary for Graham Platner, a military veteran and oyster farmer who built a grassroots following, won endorsements from Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and led Mills by double digits in recent polls. He is also a former prolific Reddit commenter whose posts included statements downplaying sexual assault and criticizing police and rural Americans, the very voters Democrats need in a general election against Collins.
Mills framed her withdrawal as purely financial. In a statement, she said:
"While I have the drive and passion, commitment and experience, and above all else, the fight, to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources. That is why today I have made the incredibly difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the United States Senate."
The numbers behind that statement tell a sharper story. Just The News reported that Mills was trailing Platner by 22 points in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, a gap that would have made continued spending hard to justify to donors even if the money had been there.
Democrats need four seats to take control of the Senate. Maine, where Collins is the only Republican senator representing a state Trump lost, has long been central to that math. Schumer and DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand issued a joint statement after Mills stepped aside, but notably did not mention Platner by name.
"Our North Star is winning a Democratic Senate majority, and over the past year, Senate Democrats have carved out multiple paths to do that. We have recruited strong candidates who have expanded the map, a winning message focused on fighting for hardworking families, and formidable campaigns working every day to hold Republicans accountable."
That careful omission speaks volumes. The party's Washington leadership backed Mills. Now they own a nominee they declined to name in their own press release.
Platner, an Army and Marine veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, has described himself as a brash political newcomer. He built major support among Maine Democrats and continued to blanket the airwaves even as his past surfaced in public view.
On Monday, just days before Mills dropped out, the Pine Tree Results PAC launched an ad highlighting Platner's controversial social media posts and a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol. Mills herself had already run ads spotlighting Platner's comments downplaying sexual assault, arguing those posts would make him vulnerable to Republican attacks in November.
Platner attributed the posts to struggles with post-traumatic stress after his combat deployments. He said he was not aware of the Nazi connection involving the tattoo and has since covered it up. He has claimed the controversies strengthened his campaign.
The pattern is not unique to Maine. Allegations and alarm around other high-profile Democrats have shown how quickly personal controversies can consume a candidacy, and how reluctant party leaders can be to act before it's too late.
Later Thursday morning, Platner issued a statement praising Mills and pivoting immediately to the general election:
"Janet Mills has dedicated her career to this beautiful state. We are all eternally grateful for her service... We both got into this race because we know how critical defeating Susan Collins is. And her decision today reflects that commitment. I look forward to working with her between now and November to do just that."
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott wasted no time framing the race. In a statement, Scott said:
"Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats just coronated a phony who is too extreme for Maine. Susan Collins has always put in the work for her constituents and delivered. Washington Democrats always fall short in Maine and will again, because they just nominated a dishonest radical."
Collins, 73, took a more measured tone when reporters caught up with her at the U.S. Capitol. She called Mills' decision difficult and wished her well, noting the governor's long record of public service in Maine. But she declined to discuss November.
"I'm not going to get into the November election at this point."
She may not need to, not yet. The Washington Examiner noted that Platner had built his polling lead despite the controversies, but that his path to a general-election win against a well-known incumbent remains uncertain at best. Collins has won statewide four times. Platner has never held elected office.
Mills' exit is not just a Maine story. It fits a wider pattern of instability inside the Senate Democratic caucus heading into the 2026 midterms. Several Democratic Senate candidates have already distanced themselves from Schumer as a leadership revolt grows within the party.
The DSCC invested early in Mills precisely because she was the safe choice, a two-term governor with statewide name recognition and a moderate enough profile to compete in a purple state. That investment produced nothing. The candidate who outflanked her did so from the left, with endorsements from Sanders and Warren and a populist energy that Washington could not match or contain.
Newsmax reported that national Democrats now face the task of backing Platner despite the controversy surrounding him, a pivot that will test the party's messaging discipline in a race it once considered a top pickup opportunity.
The question is whether Platner's Reddit history, his tattoo controversy, and his comments about sexual assault and police will matter more to Maine voters than their feelings about Collins. Republicans will make sure voters see every post. The New York Post described Platner as a left-winger whose nomination hands the GOP a clear contrast to draw in the general election.
Mills, for her part, told NBC News in a recent interview that she has "always been a Democrat" and has "always supported the Democratic candidate." Whether she formally endorses Platner remains an open question, one the party may prefer to leave unanswered for now.
The broader 2026 Senate map still favors the GOP, even as some individual races have shifted in Democrats' direction. Maine was supposed to be one of the party's best chances. Now it is one of its biggest gambles.
Platner recently began turning his attention toward Collins, signaling he views the primary as effectively over. With Mills gone, no other serious Democratic contender stands in his way. The general election is set: a brash first-time candidate with a combat record and a paper trail against a four-term senator with deep roots in the state.
Democrats wanted a safe pick. They got a wildcard. And the one person who tried to warn them, the sitting governor of the state, just ran out of money trying.
When your own party's establishment candidate can't raise enough cash to stay in a race the establishment hand-picked her for, the problem isn't the candidate. It's the party.
