The biggest (and least surprising) political news this week was Gov. Janet Mills’ entrance into the 2026 U.S. Senate race.
Even before Mills declared, the effort to unseat five-term Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins figured to be one of the most-watched races anywhere in the country. Now, it might be the undisputed top choice.
The addition of Mills to a slate of Democratic candidates that includes Hancock County oyster farmer, former Marine and progressive darling Graham Platner will no doubt fuel a past vs. future debate within the party. Whether that ends up being good for Democrats going forward remains to be seen.
Much already has been written about whether Mills is too old (she’ll be 78 in December) or whether Platner is too inexperienced (the only public office he’s held is on the planning board in Sullivan, which isn’t even an elected position). Expect more.
Our own Randy Billings will be closely watching that race into next year and delivering stories that we hope resonate with Maine voters, including one this Sunday.
In the meantime, we’re getting close to Election Day 2025. There hasn’t been any public polling on the two statewide referendum questions so it’s hard to handicap those at this stage. I expect both to be toss-ups.
In addition to comprehensive coverage of those referendums, we’ve got a bunch more stories on local races across Maine on our website.
As always, drop me a line at erussell@pressherald.com to tell us what you'd like to read more (or less) of.
- Eric Russell
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