ME-SEN: Sanders (I): Mills (D) should stay out of Maine Senate race

[RandySF]

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) urged Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) to stay out of the 2026 senate race in the Pine Tree State, arguing that it would force a heavy spending lift for candidates in an “unnecessary and divisive primary.”

Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, instead endorsed Graham Platner, a Marine Corps and Army veteran who served in four tours overseas. The Associated Press reported Friday that the governor will enter the race to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

“Graham Platner is a great working class candidate for Senate in Maine who will defeat Susan Collins,” Sanders wrote in a statement on the social platform X.

“It’s disappointing that some Democratic leaders are urging Governor Mills to run. We need to focus on winning that seat & not waste millions on an unnecessary & divisive primary,” he added.




https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5549739-sanders-mills-maine-senate-race/

[EdmondDantes_]

1. Both wings use this argument when it's convenient

At best it just creates a race to who announces first. There's value in the party having a debate about where we should go through primaries.

[chelsea0011]

2. As a Mainer here

taking down Susan Collins is the only goal here. I am torn with Sanders here. I, also, support Platner in this election, but he has never held elected office and is running from ground up. Mills will bring in dollars from Democratic establishment and could crush the other voices in the party. Mills/ Collins would be a depressing election.

[SSJVegeta]

3. Shed be a good congressperson

But i think the senate nomination should go to Platner.

We need to new fresh faces

[kcoates]

4. Mills

I'm 72 so don't bash me, Janet mills is 77. I really think we need to learn to let go and let younger people succeed!

[calguy]

5. I agree that we should bring in younger candidates and their ideas

but ultimately, it’s up to younger voters to show up at the polls and vote for their own futures. The only reason we keep getting older candidates is because the younger generations haven’t, for one reason or another, claimed the power that is rightfully theirs for the taking.

[Ars Longa]

6. Mills will be 79yo in Jan, 2027.... I like her, but that is just too old a starting point for

the Senate (& also the House). And I'm Older myself!!!!

[Midwestern Democrat]

28. On paper, Mills is the strongest candidate but there is a danger that people will think 79 is just too old for a

freshman Senator and just go with Collins for another term. Seniority counts in the Senate and obviously one term Senators will never attain any meaningful seniority - only over the next two classes of freshmen elected during their single term.

[JustAnotherGen]

37. Sanders is 84

I'm not seeing the issue? He didn't step aside for a younger candidate his last election (2024).

He says this is probably his last term. Probably.

There can't be two standards: One for the Independent Senator from Vermont who seems to look down on the Democratic Party . . .

And one for a woman who has already won state wide and stood up to DonOld with a full chest and loud voice.

If she's too old, Sanders should step down today.

[Quiet Em]

7. My husband and I just spent a week in Maine for our 35th anniversary

Beautiful State, awesome people.

Maine Democrats have two great choices to choose from in their primary and they are going to wind up with great Senator who will defeat Collins.

[Cha]

8. I think Gov Janet Mills should Do what she

wants to do.

[Cha]

9. Gov. Janet Mills to launch U.S. Senate campaign on Tuesday, source says

Maine Gov. Janet Mills plans to launch her long-anticipated U.S. Senate campaign next week, according to a person familiar with the governor’s plans.

The news was first reported by the national political news website Axios, which obtained internal documents showing Mills plans to launch her bid for the seat currently held by Republican Sen. Susan Collins on Tuesday.

Over the last several weeks, Mills, 77, has made numerous public appearances across the state touting her achievements as governor and saying that she’s “seriously considering” a run. Last month, she said she would likely decide in November.

The governor, who is nearing the end of her second term, has been recruited by national Democrats to take on Collins, a five-term incumbent who they consider vulnerable because of low approval ratings.

https://www.pressherald.com/2025/10/10/report-gov-janet-mills-to-launch-u-s-senate-campaign-on-tuesday/

Why is it okay for Sanders to a Senator and not Gov Janet Mills?

[MichMan]

10. Why does a Senator from Vermont have any say in whom Maine Democrats vote for?

[mountain grammy]

11. Free Speech?

[RandySF]

13. Bernie can say what he wants

But I prefer to listen to an actual Democrat.

[mountain grammy]

15. Like Fetterman?

[W_HAMILTON]

16. Sanders was one of the earliest supporters of Fetterman.

Fetterman endorsed Sanders in 2016 and then Sanders endorsed Fetterman way back when he was running for PA Lieutenant Governor.

We progressives need to start doing a much better job of vetting our candidates.

[RandySF]

34. No

He was another Sanders favorite.

[mountain grammy]

35. but he's a Democrat...

so what? You don't like what he has to say now and it's Bernie Sander's fault?

If you were in PA would you have voted for him?

[RandySF]

38. Dear lord we can go round and round.

No, I do not trust Fettman’s judgment. as for Bernie, he not only backed Fetterman but a candidate in Oregon who lost us a congressional seat.if you wanna go back to 2018, he backed Andrew Gilliam for Fl. governor even though he was under FBI investigation (eventually busted for drug possession and sex trafficking). Actually, I follow my own judgment and it’s served me pretty well.

[Cha]

14. What I want to know is... Why is it

Okay for Sanders to be a Senator and Not Gov Janet Mills, who by accounts is a "popular Governor"?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. I will be donating to Mills

She is the far better candidate

[tritsofme]

17. Sanders posturing here is laughable. Mills is popular with a record of statewide victory, she can beat Collins

I’m sure Platner is a good guy, but we just can’t afford to roll the dice on him.

Mills is a likely one term senator, the priority here is beating Collins.

[Jack Valentino]

18. The fact that she may be a "likely one term senator", isn't exactly a mark in her favor....

when incumbency is particularly important, especially in the Senate...

Well, Maine Democrats will decide whom they want to nominate, but Platner has already won the "buzz primary"

[tritsofme]

19. Better than Collins pulling off another win.

[Jack Valentino]

20. I remember another supposedly 'safe bet' the party made in 2016--- with an ALL-WHITE ticket

following the first black president....


Mills didn't even really want to run for this seat, IMHO. She was pushed into it by party leadership.

[DFW]

23. ANYTHING would be better than that! n/t

[DFW]

27. At her age, Janet is indeed probably looking at serving one term.

But if that happens, she will be in an excellent position to get to know the prospects for a successor, and can pick/recommend the one she deems both best-suited to represent the state, and with voter appeal. She has lived in Maine all her life, so she knows who’s who, and everybody knows her.

She can probably manage to make her decisions on her own without outside “assistance.”

[jaymac]

29. status quo

if you are happy with the status quo....go with the dem who shines in the way schumer and Jeffries shine. slur speaking about Bernie will only rile up the thousands ( yes thousands ) who rallied in Portland to see him and Platner. While I was thrilled to see Mills win after the disaster that was LePage, my thought now is...I hope she fails spectacularly. at 80 I see the absolute need for the younger generation to be participating in politics, not just as staff. Mills should go sit on a few corporate boards in Maine instead of going to D.C.

[betsuni]

21. "unnecessary and divisive primary" is bad now?

[DFW]

24. One of the more "dripping with irony" statements I have seen

Considering the source.

You noticed, as well, I see!!

[betsuni]

25. My brains overheated as they struggled with the irony, had to go to bed with a cold towel on my forehead to rest.

[DFW]

26. Considering the source,

I understand completely!

[Nixie]

30. Yes, I really lulzd at that one.

[DFW]

22. I have never met Platner, so I have no opinion about him

But I have known Janet Mills for a couple of years. I never asked her how old she was, but when I heard she was now 77, I could hardly believe it. I don’t google every person I meet, so I didn’t know. I would have thought ten or twelve years younger. She is very compos mentis and sharp-witted, so I liked her immediately. She is also very personable and not full of herself, like too many others in Congress.

I first met her when she came to a panel I was leading at an annual gathering in the States. I had no idea who she was. Everyone is required to wear a name tag, but no one is allowed to have their title on that name tag, just the city they are from.* So, I casually asked her, “What do you do in Maine?” Just as casually, she replied, “oh, I’m the governor.” With the tone of voice she used, she could just as easily have said, “oh, I’m an assistant clerk in the Augusta post office.” My kind of people!

*DU member eppur_se_muova once commented favorably on the “egalitarian vibe.” It was very well put. I was calling her Janet throughout the whole panel, and after she told me what she did for a living, that is still the way it remained.

[jaymac]

31. yeah but

First off, Janet Mills has been instrumental in aligning herself to interests opposite those of our indigenous people's wishes. She is in favor of corporate interests above those of everyday Mainers. Her push against the state buying CMP and keeping costs down for us resulted in Ibraddola purchasing CMP last year.....and why'd they do that? They stated themselves...great earning potential and wonderful employees. Now instead of keeping costs down and keeping profits in Maine, they go out of country. And CMP is going to get a 6% rate hike. She's a corporatist Dem........they are like the old politburo, the establishment MUST always dictate the candidate. Mills is the establishment.
If in 2015/2016 the DNC had paid attention to the excitement of the people to Bernie Sanders and instead did everything they could to make sure the establishment candidate won and Bernie was pushed to the side, I firmly believe drumpy would not have been elected the first time.....and boy! would we be in a much better place today.

[Quiet Em]

32. In 2015/16 Hillary Clinton received 55% of the vote. Bernie Sanders received 43%.

That's a 12 point victory. Democratic voters choose the nominee with their votes. Not the DNC. Democratic voters will also decide the Maine Democratic Senator nomination.

Also, 2015/16 was 10 years ago. It's way past time to move on.

[betsuni]

33. Rigged Democratic primaries is a conspiracy theory. This is a forum for supporters of the Democratic Party.

[JustAnotherGen]

36. Primaries Are Healthy

I don't understand Sanders.

It's only divisive if the JD's make it that way.

[Shrek]

39. Maine Democrats should definitely listen to a Senator from Vermont who is not a Democrat