By Christopher Burns and Michael Shepherd, Bangor Daily News Staff

Gov. Janet Mills is ending her Democratic U.S. Senate primary, she announced Thursday.

That comes as the term-limited governor has lagged behind Sullivan oyster farmer Graham Platner in poll after poll of likely Democratic primary voters.

But in her surprise Thursday morning announcement, Mills didn’t allude to those challenges.

“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,” she said in a statement. “That is why today I have made the incredibly difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the United States Senate.”

That leaves just Platner and Old Town native David Costello in the race for the Democratic primary race, all but setting up Platner to face off against Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins this November. Maine Democrats are already lining up behind Platner, who announced a slate of endorsements Thursday.

The Maine Democratic Party didn’t take a stance on which candidate it was supporting going into the June primary, saying it remains “neutral” in primary races but will be “proud to support our Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate.”

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who backed Mills, and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Senator Kirsten Gillibrand praised Mills as a “formidable governor” on Thursday, but pledged to support Platner, who has won endorsements from progressive U.S. senators like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

“Democrats are dedicated to fighting back against the chaos of the Trump administration by defeating the Republicans who enable his harmful agenda and that includes Susan Collins. After years of allowing Trump’s abuses of power, Senator Collins has never been more vulnerable and we will work with the presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner to defeat her,” Schumer and Gillibrand said in a statement.

Platner praised his erstwhile rival, saying he’s “eternally grateful” for Mills’ service to the state.

““We both got into this race because we knew how critical it is to defeat Susan Collins. And her decision today reflects a commitment to that project. I look forward to working with her between now and November to do just that. To defeat Susan Collins and turn this seat blue again,” he said in a statement.

The insurgent candidate who stormed onto the political scene last year came under fire last fall over unearthed inflammatory internet posts and revelations that he had a chest tattoo depicting a skull superimposed over crossbones, resembling the Totenkopf symbol adopted by the Nazi SS during World War II.

Platner denied knowing that his tattoo was a Nazi symbol. He got the tattoo in 2007 while deployed abroad with the U.S. Marines. While on leave, Platner and other Marines went to Croatia, where they got “very inebriated” and decided to get tattoos. He said that they all picked “terrifying” designs off the wall.

He has since gotten it covered.

Platner has tried to distance himself from his past internet posts, including numerous deleted posts in which Platner asked why Black people “don’t tip” and suggesting that women concerned about rape not drink around certain people, among others.

Mills, who hit Platner hard over his internet posts in a series of campaign ads, has said that Republicans would make “mincemeat” of Platner if he emerges as the party’s standard-bearer for the November election.

In her Thursday morning announcement, Mills reflected on her career of public service from prosecutor to state attorney general to governor. She touted her work to secure free community college for Mainers, free school meals, expand Medicaid, protect abortion rights and tackle climate change.

Mills called it a “privilege” to campaign across the state since she launched her U.S. Senate bid last fall.

“When I decided to run for the United States Senate last year, it was because I believed Maine people were getting a bad deal from Washington and because the President of the United States was threatening our democracy and pushing our nation to the brink of disaster. I continue to believe that today,” she said in a statement.

Collins on Thursday thanked MIlls for “her decades of service to the people of Maine,” saying in a statement that “I’m sure this was a difficult decision” for Mills to drop out.

It will be an uphill battle for Democrats to unseat Collins, who officially announced her historic bid for a sixth term in February. She has handily beaten back challengers, including in 2020 when she defied polls and expectations to secure a fifth term in the Senate. But Collins, who has been ranked the country’s most bipartisan senator, has seen her popularity slump since Republican President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.

Republicans are largely aligned with Collins, who commanded 67% support among likely primary voters, according to the University of New Hampshire’s February Pine Tree State Poll.

On Thursday, Republicans exuded confidence about Collins’ prospects this November. Maine GOP Chair Jim Deyermond called the choice for Maine voters “simple,” pointing to Collins’ work in bringing federal dollars for “Maine’s fire stations, bridges, rural hospitals, and more.”

“Mainers can’t afford to send a radical, out-of-control extremist like Platner to D.C., but that’s exactly whom Maine Democrats have on their slate this election,” he said in a statement.

The Senate race is shaping up to be an expensive one, with the Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, pledging to spend at least $42 million to help Collins defend her seat, while the Democratic Senate Majority PAC has reserved $24 million in ad time for the fall. Another PAC, Pine Tree Results, is spending $2 million to launch a series of broadsides against Platner ahead of the Democratic primary.

If Collins is successful in winning a sixth term, she would be Maine’s longest-serving U.S. senator.

Piscataquis Observer

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