Maine Gov. Janet Mills suspends campaign for US Senate

By Patrick Svitek, CNN

(CNN) — Maine Gov. Janet Mills is suspending her Democratic primary campaign for US Senate, clearing the way for Graham Platner to challenge Sen. Susan Collins.

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

Democrats had been bracing for several more weeks of a contentious campaign before the June 9 primary in Maine – a must-win state if they want to have any chance at capturing the Senate majority in November.

Incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins is running for her sixth term in the Senate – representing a state that her party’s president, Donald Trump, lost three times.

Democratic candidate Platner, an oyster farmer, has long been raising more money than Mills, who entered the primary later and had hoped to capitalize on an array of controversial social media posts in Platner’s past.

Platner raised $4.1 million in the first quarter of the year, while she took in $2.7 million. A February poll by the University of New Hampshire gave Platner a huge lead, 64% to 26%, over Mills.

Platner addressed Mills’ decision during a previously scheduled news conference in Augusta Thursday, saying Mainers were “eternally grateful” to the governor for her service.

“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,” Platner said. “I look forward to working closely with her between now and November to do just that.”

Meanwhile, Collins, who has served in the Senate for nearly three decades, told CNN’s Manu Raju Thursday, “I’m sure this was a very difficult decision for Governor Mills, and I wish her well. She has devoted her life to public service in the state of Maine, in many different capacities. She has served the people of our state, and I’m sure this was a hard decision for her.”

When asked about facing Platner, Collins said, “I’m not going to get into the November election at this point, this is the governor’s day, and I think the focus should be on her and her wanting to give her message to the people of Maine.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who had recruited Mills to enter the race, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, head of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, signaled support for Platner after Mills announced the end of her campaign.

“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 joint statement.

Republicans, meanwhile, were quick to express glee at Platner emerging as the Democratic nominee. Platner had run to the left of Mills and promised to be a more aggressive opponent of the Trump administration.

“Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats just coronated a phony who is too extreme for Maine,” Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement.

‘Running out of time’

Platner’s campaign had been increasingly arguing the primary was over, citing polling, fundraising and advertising activity. And Republicans appeared to agree, with a pro-Collins super PAC launching a $2 million ad buy against Platner last week.

Mills made the decision to suspend her campaign on Wednesday night, according to a source familiar with the matter.

“She’s not breaking through and she’s running out of time to course correct,” a national Democratic strategist told CNN this week.

Her campaign called off an April 21 fundraiser in Washington, DC, due to scheduling issues in Maine, according to a Mills ally with knowledge of the event. But the source said it was not clear if she ever intended to reschedule the event before the primary.

Mills’ campaign had also been off the airwaves for weeks. In mid-March, she launched television ads highlighting Platner’s controversial online posts but stopped running the spots in early April.

Mills, 78, was running against Platner, 41, at a time when Democrats are increasingly demanding generational change from their leaders. If elected, Mills would have been the oldest freshman senator ever. Collins is 73.

The general election is likely to center in part on whether Collins, who chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, has done enough to use her seniority to deliver for Maine and stand up to Trump. Collins was among three Senate Republicans who voted against Trump’s priority agenda bill last year, though Democrats argue she could do more to hold him accountable.

Collins is expected to try to keep the focus on Platner and the damaging information that came out about him during the primary. In deleted social media posts, Platner denigrated police and said rural White Americans “actually are” racist and stupid, CNN’s KFile reported last year. Platner has disavowed the posts and others that have surfaced, saying they do not reflect who he is today.

Platner has also faced extensive scrutiny over the discovery of a tattoo on his chest featuring an image resembling a Nazi symbol. He said he regretted getting it and had it covered.

Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders had endorsed Platner prior to Mills’ withdrawal from the race, as had Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.

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