Maine Democratic Gov. Mills plans to take on President Trump again with her Senate campaign

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The New England governor who told President Donald Trump to his face that she would see him in court now plans to challenge Maine’s Republican senator at the ballot box.

He watches: Bondi announces lawsuit against the state of Maine over transgender athletes playing in girls’ sports

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills cited her White House showdown with the Republican president in February as evidence that she should serve in the Senate, a quest she formally announced in a video to launch her campaign on Tuesday.

“I will stand up to Trump, just like I did in February,” Mills said in a phone interview previewing her campaign with The Associated Press on Sunday.

Mills’ comment referred to Maine’s legal challenge to Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from playing school sports. She publicly resisted pressure from the president during a meeting with him and other governors in February.

Mills says she will run to help spark broader resistance against Trump, who she complained cut food and health care aid for children and low-income Americans in a massive tax break and spending cuts bill enacted in July. She said she is also running to unseat five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who voted for the measure.

“I think this moment demands a lot more than what we’re seeing from Suzanne Collins,” Mills said in the interview. “It takes a fighter and someone who will stand up and fight for the future of democracy and fight for the interests of the people of Maine, just as I have done throughout my career.”

Democrats are targeting Maine in 2026

Democrats face an uphill challenge in their efforts to regain the majority in the Senate in next year’s midterm congressional elections. The party will need to obtain a grid of four seats, while Trump will win most of the states that will hold Senate elections next year.

National Democrats see Maine as an important target. It’s the only place on the 2026 Senate election map where Republicans are defending a seat in a state that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris won last year.

Mills has drawn up a list of former Maine senators “who have a proud tradition of defending democracy against those who threaten it,” including Margaret Chase Smith, William Cohen, George Mitchell and Olympia Snowe. Smith, Cohen, and Snow served as Republicans, while Mitchell was a Democrat, although they were all known to cross party lines.

Collins has long portrayed herself as a reflection of Maine’s independent spirit, but she has repeatedly voted with Trump on key issues.

“I argue that Suzanne Collins has failed to live up to this legacy and has failed to confront this unprecedented moment with the strength and courage it requires,” Mills said.

Although Collins voted to convict Trump after his 2021 impeachment over his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Mills specifically points to her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as pivotal to the court’s 2022 decision to overturn the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade, which returned decisions about whether abortion is legal to the states.

Mills also faults Collins for his vote to confirm Trump’s choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. While Kennedy adopted an anti-vaccine policy and fired public health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mills said, “I’m taking action with other states to expand vaccines, for example, and preserve our public health infrastructure.”

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Republicans were warming up to Mills’ entry into the race with a video of their own on Tuesday. The National Republican Senatorial Committee accused her of, among other things, defying the Trump administration’s campaign to mass deport people in the country illegally and its executive order barring transgender athletes from playing school sports.

“No, thanks, Janet,” the ad concludes.

Maine GOP Chairman Jim DeArmond said in a statement Tuesday that Mills is a hand-picked pick for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who he said “brings one of America’s most liberal and unpopular governors into a race in which moderates have had historic success.”

Mills promotes transgender fight with Trump

But Mills’ campaign sees the fight over transgender rights as a strength.

Speaking to a group of state governors in the state dining room, Trump shouted at the governor of Maine and asked her, “Aren’t you going to abide by” the executive order regarding transgender athletes, to which Mills replied: “I am abiding by state law and federal law.”

“You better comply, or you won’t get any federal funding,” Trump responded.

“I’ll see you in court,” Mills replied.

Trump responded, saying: “Good. I’ll see you in court. I’m looking forward to it. It should be really easy.” “And enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”

Mills fired up Democrats in April when she said of Maine’s lawsuit against the Trump administration: “I’ve spent the better part of my career listening to loud-mouthed men talk loudly to hide their vulnerabilities.”

In May, the Trump administration agreed to reverse its decision to freeze federal funds for the state’s child nutrition program because of the state’s policy on transgender athletes.
The paradox of spring turns into the entry of autumn

The law prevents Mills from running for a third term as governor. Throughout the spring and summer, she seemed to rebuff suggestions that she run for Collins’ Senate seat.

A few other contenders have announced their candidacy for the Democratic nomination, including oyster farmer Graham Blattner, who has launched an aggressive campaign on social media. Blatner has the support of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.

Mills points to the Republican-backed bill and Medicaid cuts, a partial federal government shutdown entering its third week, and still-high inflation as some of the reasons that ultimately forced her to run.

“The idea of ​​being in D.C., for me, is not a fun thing,” she told the AP. “But the moment calls for it.”