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U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ reelection campaign projected confidence in response to Gov. Janet Mills’ decision to jump into the race on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Collins’ campaign said the five-term Republican would be ready to take on whoever emerges as the Democratic candidate.
“We will be prepared to have a vigorous campaign against whoever wins this very chaotic Democratic primary,” Shawn Roderick said in a written statement.
Mills’ announcement immediately shook up a 2026 Senate race that is expected to be among the most closely watched anywhere in the country.
At least one national political forecaster immediately moved the race from leaning Republican to a toss-up on Tuesday, and national powerhouse EMILYs List endorsed Mills, who has expanded and strengthened reproductive rights over her seven years as governor.
Two of Mills’ leading Democratic competitors — who have raised millions each — welcomed Mills to the race, while a third, Maine Beer Co. co-founder Dan Kleban, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
EMILYs List President Jessica Mackler highlighted Mills’ experience and trailblazing career as the first female district attorney in New England and first female attorney general and governor of Maine, as well as her history of winning elections, including being the first governor to get a majority of the vote in both elections since the 1970s.
“This moment demands someone with backbone and grit,” Mackler said in a written statement. “Someone who has proven she will fight Trump head on and defeat him when he tries to hurt Maine — that is Janet Mills. When the stakes are this high, we should leave nothing to chance.”
Collins is the top target of Democrats during the midterms. She’s the only Republican representing a blue state on the ballot next fall and her favorability ratings are near or at historic lows.
Still, Collins has proven herself to be politically resilient. Democrats thought they had her on the ropes in 2020, after Collins cast the deciding vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, which caused the end of national abortion protections under Roe v. Wade.
Despite trailing in the polls, Collins ended up winning by nearly 9 points, even though Democrat Joe Biden beat Republican Donald Trump by a similar margin.
Kyle Kondik, the managing editor for Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said in a social media post that they were reclassifying Maine from leaning Republican to a toss-up.
“It should be a Democratic-leaning year next year to at least some extent,” Kindik told the Press Herald. “Collins is formidable but is not as popular as she once was … (and) Democrats likely will have a reasonably strong challenger to her, either the newly-announced Mills or another Democrat who defeats Mills in the primary.”
The Cook Political Report, another leading election forecaster, also moved the race to a toss-up on Tuesday.
“For the first time since she was elected in 1996, Collins could face off against a sitting statewide officeholder who, like her, has a proven track record of outperforming the presidential ticket of her party,” publisher and editor-in-chief Amy Walter wrote.
Mills was the top choice of national Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, said she’s supporting Mills, calling her a “proven leader who knows how to win in Maine.”
“When we served as attorneys general together, I saw how Janet Mills stands up for Maine — taking on the big banks and drug companies, keeping families safe, and always putting Mainers first,” she said in a social media post.
Unlike previous challengers, Mills, 77, will have to win a primary before taking on Collins. But the early endorsement from EMILY’s List will give the two-term governor an additional advantage over her lesser-known, and more inexperienced, challengers, who have never held elected office.
That primary also will spotlight the generational anxiety of the party nationally, with Graham Platner, an 41-year-old oyster farmer and veteran, and former Capitol Hill staffer Jordan Wood, 36, both raising millions.
Platner has drawn the most excitement and largest crowds at town hall events across the state, including more than a thousand people in Portland and hundreds at other events in rural parts of the state. His campaign has been highlighting letters to the editor urging Mills not to run. And U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who endorsed Platner, criticized national party leaders for encouraging Mills to run.
“Graham Platner is a great working class candidate for Senate in Maine who will defeat Susan Collins,” Sanders said. “It’s disappointing that some Democratic leaders are urging Gov. Mills to run. We need to focus on winning that seat & not waste millions on an unnecessary & divisive primary.”
Platner also was endorsed Tuesday by a network of young progressives, including Leaders We Deserve, which was co-founded by David Hogg, a gun safety advocate and former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Republicans, meanwhile, are relishing what is currently a crowded Democratic primary. The Republican National Committee issued a statement entitled, “Janet Mills creates messy Maine primary.”
“Janet Mills, Graham Planter, or whatever other leftist emerges from this Democrat primary will be too extreme and socialist for Maine,” regional spokesperson Delanie Bomar said in a written statement.
For her part, Mills told the Press Herald that a competitive primary is a “healthy process.” She beat six other Democrats to win the nomination for governor in 2018.
Both Platner and Wood welcomed Mills to the primary, while focusing their criticism on Collins.
“I have held over twenty town halls in every corner of Maine, from Rumford to Madawaska to Portland,” Platner said in a written statement. “Everywhere I hear the same thing: people are ready for change. They know the system is broken and they know that politicians who have been working in the system for years, like Susan Collins, are not going to fix it.”
Platner’s campaign has reserved its first round of TV ads, which are set to air during sporting events on Sunday, according to ADImpact, which tracks political spending on advertisements.
Wood, who has been holding town hall events across the state since the spring, called for a series of debates — one in each county.
“Primaries are a vital part of the democratic process — they give Mainers the power to decide who will be the future leaders of our party and state,” Wood said. “To defeat Susan Collins, we need a Democratic candidate all Mainers can trust to serve and represent them, not special interests or party bosses.”
It’s unclear if Kleban will remain the primary. He told NBC News last month that he’d “cross that bridge when we come to it” when asked if he would withdraw if Mills entered.
His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment and his campaign has not issued any press releases since Oct. 4.
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