The move likely sets up a battle this fall between incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins and progressive Democrat Graham Platner, who is closely aligned with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Janet Mills is dropping out of a Senate race in Maine. She is the governor of Maine, and her departure from the Senate race is a big deal because some Democratic Party leaders were really counting on her winning that Senate race to help gain ground in this fall’s elections. Democrats are left with another candidate the party is not entirely sure they like. Maine Public’s chief political correspondent Steve Mistler is here. Good morning.
STEVE MISTLER, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: Mills is, was a popular governor. How did she not catch fire?
MISTLER: Well, the governor got into the race pretty late and after oyster farmer Graham Platner, who really caught fire in the beginning, Steve, and solidified support while Mills was contemplating her candidacy. And by the time she announced in mid-October that she was getting into the race, he had already amassed a pretty healthy fundraising and polling advantage that she simply wasn’t able to overcome. And in the governor’s statement today, she said that she simply didn’t have the fundraising resources to continue her campaign, which is pretty extraordinary given that she was recruited for this race by Senate majority – minority leader Chuck Schumer and is the sitting two-term governor.
INSKEEP: Yeah, but isn’t…
MISTLER: But that would also explain why she stopped running ads in mid-April…
INSKEEP: Oh, wow. Well, that…
MISTLER: …Prompting a lot of speculation about the viability of her campaign.
INSKEEP: And we should talk about, I guess, why it is that some establishment Democrats were not comfortable with Graham Platner. He’s an outsider. He got lots of attention. You said oyster farmer, unconventional guy. Also, though, had a bunch of controversial past statements that he had to apologize for, which made him seem tainted in some people’s eyes. But it sounds like Democratic primary voters want that outsider.
MISTLER: Yeah, he really was able to overcome that. And a lot of those statements you would think would hobble or destroy a candidacy. But Graham Platner was able to sort of rally from that. He was – you know, he’s held more than 60 town halls where these topics have come up on occasion, and he’s addressed them head on. And I think that people just basically – you know, they were OK with his explanation of some of these posts which occurred basically after he served three tours in Iraq and another in Afghanistan. And I think, you know, he used a lot of that combat experience and the post-traumatic stress that he had suffered as a result of that…
INSKEEP: Yeah.
MISTLER: …As a way of explaining away some of these controversies. And I think that that explanation certainly was accepted by…
INSKEEP: Yeah.
MISTLER: …Democratic primary voters. I mean, he’s had a pretty sizable polling advantage ever since.
INSKEEP: Now, if he gets through the primary – there’s still a primary – he faces in the general Susan Collins, Republican incumbent. What does this all mean for Susan Collins?
MISTLER: Well, Senator Susan Collins is a formidable opponent. I mean, people have counted her out before, including in 2020. And I think, you know, she’s already pivoted to Graham Platner and, you know, so has the massive Republican operation that’s, you know, hoping to, you know, elect her for a sixth term. In fact, there was a super PAC that came out earlier this week that dumped $2 million in ads attacking Platner for some of the things that you just mentioned, Steve. But that operation is well underway. And it’ll be a very difficult race for both of these candidates.
INSKEEP: Steve Mistler in Brunswick, Maine. Thanks so much.
MISTLER: You bet.
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