Gov. Janet Mills of Maine officially launched her campaign for the Senate on Tuesday, setting up a potentially explosive showdown with Republican Sen. Susan Collins — provided the Democrat wins a competitive primary.
Ms. Mills’ candidacy is welcome news for Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, who urged her to enter the race.
Democrats are betting she gives them their best chance of flipping one of the four seats the party needs to reclaim the Senate in next year’s midterm elections.
In her announcement, Ms. Mills cast herself as a thorn in the side of President Trump, invoking her family’s deep roots and upstanding values.
“I have never backed down from a bully and I never will,” she said. “Honestly, if this president and this Congress were doing things even remotely acceptable, I wouldn’t be running for the U.S. Senate.”
She also knocked Ms. Collins, who is seeking a sixth term, for voting to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, helping lead to the overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that provided a constitutional right to abortion.
“I won’t sit idly by while Maine people suffer and politicians like Susan Collins bend a knee as if this was normal,” the governor said. “My life’s work has prepared me for this fight, and I am ready to win.”
Jim Deyremon, chairman of the Maine GOP, facetiously congratulated Mr. Schumer for successfully recruiting “one of America’s most liberal, unpopular Governors to join a race where moderates have had historic success.”
Ms. Mills enters a crowded Democratic primary race that includes Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran; Dan Kleban, co-founder of Main Beer Co.; and Jordan Wood, a former congressional staffer.
Mr. Platner has gained early momentum and most of the limelight.
He scored an early endorsement from Sen. Bernard Sanders, the self-avowed socialist from Vermont and face of the modern-day liberal movement.
Kyle Kondik and J. Miles Coleman, the political handicappers at the nonpartisan Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, moved the race from “leans Republican” to “tossup,” putting it alongside races in North Carolina, Georgia, and Michigan.
“For Democrats’ ‘Senate math,’ it is hard to overstate Maine’s importance,” they wrote. “Sen. Susan Collins is the only Republican in the chamber who represents a state that voted against Donald Trump in all three of his general election campaigns.”
Ms. Mills has been a staple of Maine politics, serving in the state Legislature and two stints as attorney general before getting elected governor in 2018.
Her campaign launch video presented her as a warrior against Mr. Trump. It kicked off with footage of last winter’s confrontation with the president at the White House, where she told him she would “see you in court” after he threatened to cut funding to states unless they banned male-born athletes in women’s sports.
The video then jumped to footage of Ms. Mills telling reporters at a press conference, “I did see him in court and we won.”
Her claimed legal victory came in May when a federal judge ordered the release of the federal funds.
Turning her focus to Ms. Collins, Ms. Mills said the incumbent has “forgotten her principles” and has “let bullies like Trump have their way.”
“It is hurting Maine people,” the governor said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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