Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins said Thursday that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed to her that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had ended “enhanced” operations in her state. 
Collins, who has been critical of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, previously urged ICE to “pause” operations in both Minnesota and Maine. 
“While the Department of Homeland Security does not confirm law enforcement operations, I can report that Secretary Noem has informed me that ICE has ended its enhanced activities in the State of Maine,” Collins wrote on X. “There are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations here. I have been urging Secretary Noem and others in the Administration to get ICE to reconsider its approach to immigration enforcement in the state.”
Collins added that she appreciated Noem’s “willingness to listen to and consider my recommendations and her personal attention to the situation in Maine. ICE and Customs and Border Patrol will continue their normal operations that have been ongoing here for many years.”
“I will continue to work with the Secretary on efforts to end illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and other transnational criminal activity,” Collins said. 
The Department of Homeland Security  told The Daily Wire that it would &#8220;continue to enforce the law across the country, as we do every day.&#8221;
On Tuesday, Collins<a href="https://x.com/SenatorCollins/status/2016300115116409332"> said</a> that she had spoken with both the White House and Noem about limiting the scope and target of immigration operations in Maine and Minnesota in the wake of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents. 
Collins’ call for ICE to pause operations in Maine was echoed by Democrat Governor Janet Mills, who recently demanded that President Donald Trump withdraw ICE agents from Maine. Mills also demanded that ICE&#8217;s funding be cut and that Noem be brought before Congress to testify.
Last week, ICE <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/01/21/ice-launches-operation-catch-day-targeting-worst-worst-criminal-illegal-aliens">launched</a> operation “Catch of the Day” in Maine to target illegal immigrants convicted of crimes. Those arrested as part of the operation included illegal immigrants arrested for aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child, according to DHS. In total, around 200 illegal immigrants were arrested as part of the operation. 
“Governor Mills and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Maine have made it abundantly clear that they would rather stand with criminal illegal aliens than protect law-abiding American citizens,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “We have launched Operation Catch of the Day to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in the state.”

Senate Advances Plan To End Shutdown After Some Democrats Agree

GOP Senator Says ‘Enhanced’ ICE Operations Have Ended In Maine

Illegal Immigation

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Kristi Noem

Maine

Susan Collins

The 2026 midterms are about as high-stakes as elections can be.
Thirty-five Senate seats are up for grabs next November, as are all 435 House seats. Republicans currently hold slim majorities in both houses of Congress — one that could get even slimmer with the<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/marjorie-taylor-greene-is-resigning-heres-what-happens-now?author=Amber+Jo+Cooper&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Marjorie+Taylor+Greene+Is+Resigning.+Here%E2%80%99s+What+Happens+Now." target="_blank" rel="noopener"> coming resignation</a> of Marjorie Taylor Greene. The results of the elections could shape the final two years of President Donald Trump&#8217;s time in the White House. The midterms will also loom over the 2028 presidential election, particularly for Democrats, who do not have an obvious candidate waiting in the wings.
We&#8217;re still a ways out, but many of the most crucial races are already heating up. Here are five races to keep an eye on.
<h3>Texas</h3>
The cycle&#8217;s most heated election began months ago when Trump ally and Texas Attorney General <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ken-paxton-to-probe-womens-weightlifting-competition-after-trans-identified-athlete-wins-gold?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Ken+Paxton+To+Probe+Women%E2%80%99s+Weightlifting+Competition+After+Trans-Identified+Athlete+Wins+Gold" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ken Paxton</a> announced a challenge to longtime Sen. John Cornyn.
Paxton has argued that Cornyn is too establishment to continue representing the state, saying that “Cornyn’s Swamp friends are spending tens of millions of dollars to attack me.&#8221; Cornyn in turn has called Paxton a “conman and a fraud,&#8221; the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-senate-paxton-cornyn-bc9dcc271c97ad1d724383397e5807c6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a> reported earlier this year.
The winner of that primary will face off against either Colin Allred, a former congressman, or State Rep. James Talarico, who made national headlines in 2021 when he and a group of Democrat colleagues <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-who-fled-texas-to-subvert-democracy-mocked-for-playing-victim-card-you-guys-are-pathetic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fled Texas</a> to prevent the state legislature from voting on bills they opposed. More recently, Talarico — who has pitched himself as a Christian Democrat — came under fire after it was revealed that he followed a number of <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/11/15/us-news/james-talarico-caught-following-more-onlyfans-models-and-prostitutes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OnlyFans models</a> on Instagram.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, whose radical outbursts are almost too numerous to mention, is also weighing entering the race — which has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/crazy-radical-democrats-republicans-welcome-jasmine-crocketts-potential-senate-bid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republicans thrilled.</a>
<h3>Maine</h3>
Like John Cornyn, Susan Collins has caught plenty of flak from her fellow Republicans in recent years. But the moderate senator&#8217;s main concern as she runs for a fifth term comes from Democrats, not a primary challenger.
Maine Governor Janet Mills lost an early lead to populist upstart Graham Platner — though the oyster farmer blew an early lead with a series of scandals, including resurfaced <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-senate-hopeful-called-himself-a-communist-made-racist-comments-in-reddit-posts?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Dem+Senate+Hopeful+Called+Himself+A+Communist%2C+Made+Racist+Comments+In+Reddit+Posts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reddit posts</a> in which he slammed cops and called himself a “communist,” and the revelation that he had a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/graham-platner-has-known-about-his-tattoos-nazi-connotations-since-2012?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Graham+Platner+Has+Known+About+His+Tattoo%E2%80%99s+Nazi+Connotations+Since+2012" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Nazi symbol</a> tattooed on his chest.
Platner has been<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/graham-platners-treasurer-switch-marks-yet-another-exit-from-campaign" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> bleeding staff</a> in the wake of these revelations, including his campaign manager, political director, and national finance manager.
Despite all this, Platner still seems to be the Democrat to beat — though a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maine-voters-embrace-susan-collins-the-more-they-learn-about-graham-platner-poll?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Maine+Voters+Embrace+Susan+Collins+The+More+They+Learn+About+Graham+Platner%3A+Poll" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> recent poll</a> found that voters favor Collins the more they learn about Platner.
<h3>Michigan</h3>
In Michigan, Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and Abdul El-Sayed are seeing who can run furthest to the Left.
McMorrow recently held a fundraiser with a leftist blogger who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michigan-democrat-teams-up-with-leftist-blogger-who-mocked-charlie-kirk-after-assassination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mocked</a> Charlie Kirk&#8217;s assassination. Stevens, who endorsed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), once <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-democratic-lawmaker-screams-at-constituents-over-nra-support" target="_blank" rel="noopener">screamed at her constituents</a> for supporting the Second Amendment. And El-Sayed, who&#8217;s backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), blamed Israel for &#8220;invading&#8221; Gaza in October 2023, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-senate-candidate-accuses-israel-of-invading-gaza-in-oct-7-fundraising-email" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failing to mention</a> that the &#8220;invasion&#8221; in question was a military response to Hamas&#8217;s October 7 massacre of Israeli civilians.
Whichever Democrat emerges victorious from the fray will face off against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-michigan-gop-congressman-launches-2nd-senate-bid-after-coming-up-short-in-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Rogers</a>, a Trump-endorsed former congressman who lost his 2024 Senate race by a tiny margin.
<h3>Ohio</h3>
Rogers isn&#8217;t the only lawmaker staging a political comeback in 2026. In Ohio,<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ohio-dem-sherrod-brown-plots-senate-comeback?author=Daniel+Chaitin&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Ohio+Dem+Sherrod+Brown+Plots+Senate+Comeback" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Sherrod Brown</a> — a longtime leftist fixture in the Upper Chamber who fell last year to Republican Bernie Moreno — is running against Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was tapped to fill Vice President JD Vance&#8217;s seat.
Brown was dogged with allegations of hypocrisy throughout his time in the Senate, something The Daily Wire<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ohio-dem-sherrod-brown-plots-senate-comeback" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> frequently covered</a>. The leftist was slammed for taking <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ohio-democrat-senator-took-thousands-of-dollars-in-donations-from-pharma-companies-at-center-of-opioid-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">donations</a> from drug companies at the center of the opioid crisis and<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/east-palestine-is-still-suffering-but-ohios-democrat-senator-took-time-for-a-hollywood-fundraiser" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> attending</a> a ritzy Hollywood fundraiser while constituents worried about the water quality at their home after the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine.
<h3>California</h3>
Of all the House seats up for grabs in 2026 — and, remember, that&#8217;s all of them — the most closely-watched is California, where Democrats are fighting to fill former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s soon-to-be-vacated seat.
Pelosi <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/potential-pelosi-successor-pushed-a-bill-so-woke-even-the-new-york-times-has-doubts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> wants San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan to succeed her. But the candidate to beat is California State Senator Scott Wiener, a man so radical that even the New York Times <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/potential-pelosi-successor-pushed-a-bill-so-woke-even-the-new-york-times-has-doubts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has its doubts</a> about him.
From radical trans activism to legalizing prostitution and pedophilia, there&#8217;s almost nothing Wiener doesn&#8217;t want the state to permit — unless of course parents don&#8217;t want their minor children to undergo radical gender procedures, in which case he thinks the state should be able to take custody of those children.
Wiener&#8217;s record is almost too insane to believe, but The Daily Wire recently published the definitive account of this wannabe congressman. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-scott-wiener-nancy-pelosis-likely-replacement-probably-thinks-youre-a-bigot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Give it a read here.</a>
<h3>Georgia</h3>
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff will be defending his seat against a Republican challenger yet to be determined. The current frontrunners are Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley.
The race is expected to be extraordinarily expensive, as Ossoff already has $21 million in cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission<a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/S8GA00180/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> data</a>. Although it&#8217;s unclear who the nominee on the Republican side will be, millions are already pouring in for the individual candidates at this stage,<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-the-expensive-race-to-unseat-a-vulnerable-democratic-senator" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> The Daily Wire</a> reported in October.
Ossoff most recently made waves for his vote against reopening the government, a vote that Republicans will likely lord over him throughout the cycle.
<h3>But Wait, There&#8217;s More&#8230;</h3>
North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is set to square off against Republican Michael Whatley. Former Senators John Sununu and Scott Brown are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ex-gop-senator-enters-highly-competitive-race-in-hopes-to-flip-new-hampshire-red" target="_blank" rel="noopener">duking it out</a> in a New Hampshire primary. Redistricting battles are sure to make house races <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-redistricting-battle-keeps-getting-messier" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spicy</a> in Texas, Indiana, North Carolina, and more. And just for fun, the weirdest scion of the Kennedy family is running alongside about a dozen other Democrats to represent a district in the heart of Zohran Mamdani&#8217;s Manhattan.
It&#8217;s going to be a heck of a cycle. Stick with The Daily Wire, we&#8217;ll be covering it all!

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These Are The Most Important Races To Watch In The 2026 Midterms

Congress

house

Jon Ossoff

Senate

Maine Republicans just got a huge boost in their efforts to claim competitive Senate and House seats as Democrats duke it out in a messy primary that has become a national flash point.
State Rep. Laurel Libby, a Republican, announced this week that she was launching a trio of groups — Lead Maine, Lead Maine Action, and the Lead Maine Committee — with the hopes of boosting turnout for her party in and further conservative policies.
“Maine needs a long-term, durable campaign infrastructure that grows our conservative grassroots movement and seats up Republicans up for success in 2026 and beyond,” Libby said in a statement.
Lead Maine will be a nonprofit and the action group is a state-level political action committee, while the committee will be a federal-level Super PAC, according to a press release.
Libby became a national figure over her critique of the state’s policies regarding transgender athletes, which at one point cost her the ability to even vote in the Maine House, The Daily Wire reported in June. She will not be running for re-election after three terms in the legislature, her press release noted.
“Lead Maine and its affiliated organizations are committed to building exactly that by educating and mobilizing citizens to drive meaningful societal and electoral change at both the state and national levels.”
Libby&#8217;s groups could help Republicans gain an advantage in a closely-watched cycle dominated by coverage of populist oyster farmer Graham Platner, who has faced numerous scandals for deleted Reddit posts and a Nazi tattoo. Platner is facing Governor Janet Mills in a primary that has voters split on questions of age and ideology, dividing the Democratic Party as a whole. Platner, a populist, is more than three decades younger than the more establishment Mills, who is 77.
Whoever wins will take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a race the Cook Political Report calls a “toss-up,&#8221; one of the most competitive races of the coming midterm cycle. Democratic primary polls have yielded mixed results despite Platner’s scandals, and he shows no signs of dropping out despite high staff turnover.
“We can defeat Susan Collins and send a message to everyone that a new dawn has come for American politics. One that is strong, one that is principled, one that is hopeful, and most importantly, one that fights and wins,” Platner recently posted to X.
The Lead Maine Committee, a partnership with the Sentinel Action Fund, will put $4 million into Collins’ race. Grassroots movements and organizations are becoming more commonplace on the right, including with Scott Presler’s voter registration efforts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in addition to groups like Turning Point Action.
“This partnership and investment come ahead of a pivotal midterm election cycle. Maine’s Senate seat will play a critical role in securing and expanding the Republican Senate majority and protecting it is an essential step toward achieving a 60-seat majority,” Sentinel Action Fund President Jessica Anderson said in a statement.
In Maine’s Second Congressional District, Democrat Rep. Jared Golden announced that he is retiring, leaving the seat up for grabs despite now being labeled as “likely Republican” by the Cook Political Report due to President Donald Trump’s victory in the district last year.
Democrat Jordan Wood exited the Senate race in order to run for the seat instead, and former Republican Gov. Paul LePage is running for the Republican nomination. Besides Collins, there are no other Republicans in the New England Congressional delegation.

Graham Platner Maine

How Maine’s Messy Democratic Primary Has Republicans Circling The Wagons

graham platner

janet mills

“Socialism is not a dirty word anymore!” former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) yelled the night of November 4.
Bowman joined noted leftists Mehdi Hasan and Hasan Piker in an election night stream from Zohran Mamdani’s victory party. Mamdani, a 34-year-old socialist, had just won election as mayor of the most populous city in the United States.
The Democratic Party’s left flank is increasingly boxing out more moderate members to follow the lead of progressives, as seen in the government shutdown or in helping progressives and self-described socialists secure influential positions, one GOP political strategist told The Daily Wire.
“Progressives are fired up and the establishment Dems are trying to do as much as they can to capture it. I mean, a cynical person might say that the government shut down so Abigail Spanberger could win Virginia, right?” the strategist said. “I think that the only reason why the establishment Dems … picked such a difficult battle for them to win policy-wise in the shutdown is to make sure that their progressive comrades are not able to criticize them as much, and that means that the progressives are the tail that is wagging the dog right now.”
The progressive dominance is starkly evident in Maine. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden is known for regularly breaking with his party, sometimes on key votes. He was the only Democrat to vote with House Republicans to pass a short-term continuing resolution to head off the government shutdown that stretched a record 40 days.
Golden announced on November 5, the day after Mamdani’s victory, that he would forgo a run at re-election in 2026.
“I’m confident that were I to run again, I would win,” said Golden in a <a href="https://x.com/golden4congress/status/1986163261696278844">statement</a>. “Now, I look forward to my next chapter: raising my young daughters with Izzy and spending more time with our family and friends.”
The now-outgoing congressman abandoned his re-election campaign as he was facing significant pressure from his left from Democrat Matt Dunlap, Maine’s former secretary of state. When Dunlap announced his primary challenge to Golden last month, Dunlap’s first move was to <a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2025-10-06/former-maine-secretary-of-state-matt-dunlap-launches-primary-challenge-against-jared-golden">characterize</a> Golden as too soft on President Donald Trump.
Dunlap appears to have resonated with voters in Maine’s second district. In a University of New Hampshire <a href="https://scholars.unh.edu/survey_center_polls/897/">poll</a> released last month, Dunlap was leading the incumbent, Golden.
That same poll also showed another progressive Democrat in Maine, Graham Platner, leading the field for the chance to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Maine Governor Janet Mills, known in the state as a more moderate Democrat despite her combative streak with Trump, <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/latest-polls/senate">trails</a> far behind Platner.
Platner is an Iraq War veteran, an oyster farmer, and the harbormaster of the small town of Sullivan. He has a history of <a href="https://mainemorningstar.com/2025/11/07/washington-need-not-apply-how-mainers-are-evaluating-controversy-laden-graham-platner/">working</a> with the climate alarmist Acadia Center, and he has secured endorsements from high-profile progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Last month, he was revealed to have a tattoo of a Nazi symbol, a skull-and-crossbones known as a Totenkopf, on his chest. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMnc4ddc7j4">clarified</a> he is “not a secret Nazi” and claimed that he had not known where the symbol originated until the scandal blew up. Some doubt about Platner’s story is warranted, though, since a <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2025/10/graham-platner-ss-tattoo-maine-senate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> that the candidate had been referring to his tattoo as a Totenkopf as early as 2012.
Platner’s online history has come up in the campaign, as well. In 2020 and 2021, Platner was in internet posts claiming to be a “communist” while using racist language and gay slurs. While he has called the posts “indefensible,” he has also dismissed them as unserious and jokes.
Platner’s campaign has <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/maines-graham-platner-thinks-voters-will-overlook-his-past-to-support-a-new-type-of-candidate">imploded</a> in recent weeks with multiple high-level departures, including his treasurer and finance director. Platner’s former campaign manager left after four days, excusing the early departure by saying his wife is pregnant. Separately, Platner’s campaign has required staff members to sign nondisclosure agreements, which the candidate has said is necessary in a high-stakes election.
Despite the upheaval, Platner’s political allies, including Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, have stood by the embattled Platner, showing just how durable support can be among the progressives’ favored candidates.
“One reason for that is it&#8217;s very clear that the base is furious, riled up, ready to support candidates that they wouldn&#8217;t have in the past,” whether for personal or policy reasons, said the GOP strategist, who has worked in Maine politics for more than a decade.
Progressives were reassured recently that voters may not punish them for standing by Platner. In Virginia, Democrats’ pick for state attorney general, Jay Jones, won the election to the office despite past text messages he sent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/read-them-virginia-dem-sent-shocking-texts-about-killing-gop-leader-pissing-on-graves">supporting</a> violence against his political opponents and their families.
Jones’ victory in Virginia is “a sad reflection of a discomfiting willingness among voters to prioritize partisanship over human decency,” as The Washington Post editorial board <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/11/03/virginia-election-governor-spanberger-sears-jay-jones/">wrote</a> ahead of the November 4 election.

Graham Platner

‘The Tail Wagging The Dog’: Progressives Dominate Democratic Politics In Maine And Beyond

Democratic Party

Zohran Mamdani

Embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner will lose the state’s Democratic primary to Governor Janet Mills, a new poll found.
EMILY’s List, which is supporting Mills in the primary, <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000019a-7501-dfdd-af9b-75912aca0000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commissioned a poll</a> from Impact Research that found Mills would lose to incumbent Senator Susan Collins (R) with just 42% of the vote. But that’s only when respondents were given “balanced information” about the candidates.
When “additional information” was given about the Platner — such as quotes from deleted social media posts where he called himself a communist, and his Nazi symbol tattoo — Collins’ lead climbs to 57%.
“The statements include quotes from Platner’s posts, including his history of stoking political violence, use of homophobic slurs, and offensive views towards law enforcement and sexual assault victims,” the memo stated.
The poll was taken among 700 likely voters from October 22 to 27, with a 3.7% margin of error.
The Cook Political Report currently ranks the race as a “toss-up.” The Republican won re-election in 2020 with 50.98%, compared to 42.39% for the Democrat, Sara Gideon.
Platner has remained in the race despite the wave of negative headlines and most recently spoke out against the Democrats who backed the deal to reopen the federal government, even calling on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to “step down.”
“We get nothing. No healthcare. No subsidies,” Platner posted to X on Tuesday. “This is not a ‘deal.’ It&#8217;s a surrender.”
The vote to reopen the government by Collins and other Senate Republicans, in addition to some Democrats, was the hot topic on the campaign trail in recent days.
“This short-term continuing resolution would reopen government immediately, provide back pay to all federal workers, and fund important federal programs on which many Americans rely,” Collins, who is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Mills said Collins “voted against extending ACA subsidies,” as an amendment to continue the Obamacare subsidies for another year was shot down by Senate Republicans.
“This vote is a betrayal of Maine people, and it will send health care costs through the roof. While I have fought to expand health care and to make it more affordable, Senator Collins and Republicans in Washington are doing the opposite,” the governor posted.
The Daily Wire reached out to the Platner, Collins, and Mills campaigns, which were not immediately available for comment. Democrat Jordan Wood dropped out of the Maine Democratic primary on Wednesday, instead opting to run for Maine’s Second Congressional District, which is now open due to Rep. Jared Golden’s (D-ME) retirement announcement. The seat is considered competitive, but is labeled by the Cook Political Report as “Likely Republican.”
“If Chuck Schumer’s mountain of opposition research against Graham Platner wasn’t enough to scare him out of this race, it’s doubtful a poll from a group that has endorsed Janet Mills will do much,” National Republican Senatorial Committee Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell told The Daily Wire in a statement.

Maine Voters Embrace Susan Collins The More They Learn About Graham Platner: Poll

Polls

<div>Embattled Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s treasurer has resigned just days after his national finance director called it quits, according to the Judge Street Journal.</div>
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<div>The <a href="https://judgestreetjournal.substack.com/p/exclusive-graham-platners-treasurer?utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;triedRedirect=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outlet</a> reported that Victoria Perrone left her role as treasurer on Tuesday, and Ben Martello is the individual currently listed in the position on Federal Election Commission records.</div>
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<div>Platner’s campaign has faced numerous controversies resulting from deleted Reddit posts and a Nazi-era tattoo, and in the days since those controversies spread across social media, both a campaign manager and a political director have also abruptly exited the campaign.</div>
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<div>His former national finance director, Ronald Holmes III, posted to LinkedIn on Friday that he was resigning.</div>
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<div>“Somewhere along the way, I began to feel that my professional standards as a campaign professional no longer fully aligned with those of the campaign,” Holmes posted.</div>
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<div>“I wish the campaign and the voters in Maine well as they continue forward with selecting a nominee who they believe is best suited to meet the moment and flip this critical must win seat for us to take back the U.S. Senate in 2026,” he continued.</div>
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<div><a href="https://x.com/hollyotterbein/status/1984284658612494537">Axios</a> reported the Platner campaign said that Holmes quit because his role had more to do with getting large donors on board to the campaign, but “the reality is our campaign’s fundraising success has come largely from small dollar donors. Nearly 90% of what we’ve raised has come from small dollar donations and online donors, which is run by our digital fundraising director.”</div>
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<div>Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.</div>
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<div><a href="https://weartv.com/news/nation-world/platner-campaign-manager-steps-down-after-joining-campaign-last-week-social-media-maine-democrats-senate-race-republicans-susan-collins-janet-mills" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WGME News</a> reported that Kevin Brown took a job as the Democrat’s campaign manager, and claimed that his exit had to do with finding out that his wife is pregnant — but he left the job just days after beginning the new gig.</div>
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<div>Platner&#8217;s former political director Genevieve McDonald spoke out about quitting after his now-covered Totenkopf tattoo went viral.</div>
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<div>“Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest,” McDonald posted to Facebook. “He’s not an idiot, he’s a military history buff. Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means.”</div>
<div></div>
<div>The Democrat is in a primary race against Gov. Janet Mills, and whoever wins the primary will face off against Republican Sen. Susan Collins in 2026.</div>
<div></div>
<div>“Our movement is powered by the people of Maine,” Platner posted to X on Saturday. “The people of Maine will not be propagandized. And they will not be bought.”</div>
<div></div>
<div>Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</div>
<div></div>

Graham Platner’s Treasurer Switch Marks Yet Another Exit From Campaign

Graham Platner’s campaign manager quit just days after starting the job, the latest in a seemingly unending series of upsets for the Maine Democrat&#8217;s struggling campaign.
Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/10/27/graham-platner-campaign-manager">reported</a> Monday that Kevin Brown, a friend of Platner&#8217;s, resigned his post shortly after taking it up. Brown follows Platner&#8217;s political director, Genevieve McDonald, who resigned earlier this month after Platner came under fire for a series of Reddit posts in which he called himself a communist. McDonald made waves following her departure for publicly commenting about Platner’s tattoo with Nazi-era connotations, which he has since gotten covered up.
“Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest,&#8221; McDonald wrote on Facebook. &#8220;He’s not an idiot, he’s a military history buff. Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means.&#8221;
“Years ago I got a skull and crossbones tattoo with my buddies in the Marine Corps,&#8221; Platner wrote on X last week. &#8220;I was appalled to learn it closely resembled a Nazi symbol. I altered it yesterday, into something that isn&#8217;t deeply offensive to my core beliefs.&#8221;
“I am very sorry to all of you who had to contemplate a symbol of hate over the past 48 hours,” he added.
Platner told “Pod Save America” that he’s “not a secret Nazi” when discussing the Totenkopf tattoo. 
“Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general. I would say, lifelong opponent.”
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“At no point in this entire experience of my life not once did anybody say ‘Hey, you’re a Nazi.’ It never came up, until we got wind that in the opposition research somebody was shopping the idea that I was secret Nazi with a hidden Nazi tattoo. And I can honestly say that if I was trying to hide it, I have not been doing a very good job for the past 18 years,” Platner said. 
“We got those and then we all moved on with our lives,” he added. 
However, a report in<a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2025/10/graham-platner-ss-tattoo-maine-senate/"> Jewish Insider</a> indicated he knew about the meaning of the symbol as of at least 2012. 
Platner is facing Maine Governor Janet Mills in the state&#8217;s Democratic primary, the winner of which will likely take on Republican Senator Susan Collins in a highly competitive general election race.
A recent poll of likely voters from SoCal Strategies indicated that Mills is leading with 41% compared with 36% for Platner,<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5573485-maine-senate-poll-mills-platner/"> The Hill</a> reported on Saturday. Another poll from the<a href="https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1896&amp;context=survey_center_polls"> University of New Hampshire</a>, taken from Oct. 16-21, showed that 58% of “those who plan to vote” are backing Platner, compared with 24% for the governor.

The Bad News Keeps Rolling In For Graham Platner’s Senate Campaign

Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner was a member of a radical Left group whose members have been linked to a slew of attacks, including an assault on an ICE facility that was designated a terrorist attack this month as part of a crackdown on Antifa.
Maine&#8217;s Democrat Senate primary was upended after <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/politics/kfile-graham-platner-maine-senate-candidate-deleted-reddit-posts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a> reported that Platner had called himself a &#8220;communist&#8221; in posts on the Reddit forum r/SocialistRA, where he wrote that if people &#8220;expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history.&#8221;
The forum name refers to the Socialist Rifle Association, a group whose members have been repeatedly linked to violent political crimes.
On July 4, a group of militants allegedly swarmed law enforcement at an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas and “opened fire at the unarmed DHS correctional officers.” One of them, Benjamin Hanil Song, is charged with shooting a police officer in the neck. Song was a member of the Socialist Rifle Association’s Dallas-Fort Worth chapter, a fellow group member told <a href="https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-07-22/shooting-at-alvarado-ice-facility-other-attacks-the-new-normal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KERA</a>.
Last week, the Department of Justice charged two suspects in that attack, Cameron Arnold and Zachary Evetts, with providing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-hits-antifa-with-very-first-terrorism-charges-in-anti-ice-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">material support to terrorists</a>, calling their crew an &#8220;Antifa Cell.&#8221; It was the first use of the terrorism statute against domestic extremists since Trump ordered a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-ups-the-ante-orders-cabinet-to-label-antifa-a-foreign-terror-organization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crackdown</a> on far-left political violence. Arnold, like the founders of the Socialist Rifle Association, is transgender and goes by the name Autumn Hill.
Membership in the Socialist Rifle Association isn&#8217;t required for users to post on the Reddit forum. But a New England publication, the <a href="https://robinsonreport.substack.com/p/ex-marine-graham-platner-taught-military" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robinson Report</a>, revealed that Platner explicitly described his membership in the group.
&#8220;Check out the Maine SRA chapter, we&#8217;re quite active,&#8221; he wrote in April 2020. In August 2020, he said &#8220;my local SRA chapter&#8221; does &#8220;lots of range days, firearms education classes, and developing mutual aid networks in our community.&#8221;
Images of the Maine chapter training include a man in a pink tutu shooting a gun, and one who — though the group blurred the faces of its members — has facial hair matching Platner&#8217;s, Robinson reported.
Platner, who would face off against Republican Senator Susan Collins in the general election and has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), said he made the comments after a difficult time period serving in the military.
“When I got back from Afghanistan in 2011, I stayed in the Army for another year. I got out in 2012. Some of the worst comments I made, the things that I’m — I think are least defensible, that I wouldn’t even try to defend, come from that time,” he said.
The Daily Wire has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/socialist-rifle-association-linked-to-numerous-violent-attacks">chronicled</a> Socialist Rifle Association members charged with crimes of political violence.
In October 2021, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flnd.353608/gov.uscourts.flnd.353608.2.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daniel Alan Baker</a> of Florida was sentenced to 44 months in prison for threats. After the pro-Trump Capitol protest on January 6, 2021, Baker offered “cash rewards for information leading to the verified identification of an and every individual in this video. Don’t worry, I wont ne [sic] going to the cops. We have decided to handle this ourselves.” Baker told prosecutors that he was a <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59305500/81/united-states-v-baker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">member</a> of the Socialist Rifle Association, and said, “I believe that the philosophy of an anarchism leads to socialism. And I believe that the government should provide for everyone’s housing, healthcare, food. I even believe that the government should distribute weapons to people who are loyal citizens.”
On January 20, 2025, the day Donald Trump was sworn in as president, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.185254/gov.uscourts.ord.185254.1.1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adam Matthew Lansky</a> allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon. He returned to the same dealership a month later and shot it up using a semi-automatic rifle with a suppressor, according to court documents. “Lansky is a competitive shooter and a former member of the Socialist Rifle Association. He is skilled and well-practiced in the use of firearms and combat scenarios. The [improvised incendiary devices] used by Lansky were all manufactured by him,” prosecutors <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69768879/22/united-states-v-lansky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
On March 18, 2025, in Las Vegas, Paul Hyon Kim set on fire and shot up five Teslas, leaving a Molotov cocktail inside one, <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69803347/1/united-states-v-kim/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charging documents</a> said. Tesla had, of course, been treated as a political symbol by the left because of Elon Musk’s support for Donald Trump. The court papers said, “Kim has an Instagram page where he follows the Socialist Rifle Association’s page. In a post from October 2018, on the Reno Socialist Rifle Association’s Instagram page, is a picture of a subject that appears to be Paul Kim training with firearms.”
A <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialistRA/comments/cf9i4r/wait_is_the_sra_mostly_tankies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> of Socialist Rifle Association members found that it was 30% anarchist, 30% Marxist-Leninist or Maoist, 30% Democratic Socialist, and 10% other.
The Socialist Rifle Association was incorporated in Kansas in 2019 by Alexander Tackett, who later began identifying as a woman named Alex Norma Tackett. A website for a queer bookstore he owned <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221207035629/https://sweetreadsict.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “Lilith [it/she] &amp; Alex Tackett [she/it] are a trans lesbian couple living in Wichita with their six-year-old son.”
The group&#8217;s co-founder was Faye Ecklar, who explained that “I believe firearms ownership is necessary because as a transgender socialist, half the country wants me dead, and the other half is happy to watch. Plus, the means of production won’t seize themselves.”
Platner has faced a wave of negative publicity since his old Reddit posts resurfaced, much of which centers around the Democrat&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/graham-platner-has-known-about-his-tattoos-nazi-connotations-since-2012">Nazi chest tattoo</a>.

Socialist Rifle Association card and one of its members

Maine Dem Graham Platner Belonged To Socialist Group Linked To ICE Attack, Tesla Bombings

Socialism

Terrorism

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner was reportedly aware of the Nazi-affiliation of his skull and crossbones chest tattoo, despite recent claims that he had never faced negative accusations regarding it until he ran for office, according to Jewish Insider.
“He said, ‘Oh, this is my Totenkopf,’” an acquaintance recalls Platner telling him at Tune Inn, a Capitol Hill Bar where Platner worked, in 2012.
“He said it in a cutesy little way,” the individual said. Platner said at the time that he was aware of what the symbol meant when he got the tattoo, though he has denied knowing the meaning at other times, <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2025/10/graham-platner-ss-tattoo-maine-senate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jewish Insider</a> reported. Platner has since gotten a new tattoo to cover the symbol, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Graham Platner shows off cover-up tattoo of Nazi symbol in interview with local Maine news outlet: <a href="https://t.co/MMPvw57zzz">https://t.co/MMPvw57zzz</a> <a href="https://t.co/JaUYLjuM41">pic.twitter.com/JaUYLjuM41</a>
— Politics &amp; Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) <a href="https://twitter.com/PollTracker2024/status/1981027114796134407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 
The report came after Platner attempted to explain the tattoo on “Pod Save America” on Monday.
“I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner said on the podcast. “Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general. I would say, lifelong opponent.”
Platner, who has been endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), further added that he was “very inebriated” on leave in Croatia while on a deployment for the Marines in 2007, and “we chose a terrifying-looking skull and crossbones off the wall” while at the tattoo shop.
“We got those and then we all moved on with our lives,” he said.
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“At no point in this entire experience of my life not once did anybody say ‘Hey, you’re a Nazi.’ It never came up, until we got wind that in the opposition research somebody was shopping the idea that I was secret Nazi with a hidden Nazi tattoo. And I can honestly say that if I was trying to hide it, I have not been doing a very good job for the past 18 years,” Platner continued.
Platner has been under fire since a number of his Reddit posts were revealed, including one where he referred to cops as “bastards” and described himself as a “communist.”
Axios reported that in a 2020 Reddit post Platner said he had the term “antifa super soldier” on “armor” he owned.
His former political director, Genevieve McDonald, who quit just days ago, called him out in a Facebook post in light of the tattoo scandal.
“Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest. He’s not an idiot, he’s a military history buff. Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means,” McDonald wrote, The Maine Wire reported.
Platner is currently facing Democrat Governor Janet Mills in a primary, the winner of which will face incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, in a closely watched 2026 race.

Capitol Hill Prepares Ahead Of Full House Vote On Impeachment Articles This Week

Graham Platner Has Known About His Tattoo’s Nazi Connotations Since 2012

Democrats

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner addressed a tattoo on his chest that critics have slammed as being linked to Nazi imagery, as a flurry of controversial social media posts resurfaced.
In a Monday interview with “Pod Save America,” Platner encouraged the hosts to play a video of himself lip-syncing to Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” while shirtless at his brother’s wedding a decade ago. The video revealed that Platner has a tattoo of a black skull and crossbones on his chest. The design is known as the Totenkopf or “Death’s Head,” which was used as a symbol for the SS during the Nazi regime, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner told Pod Save America. “Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general. I would say, lifelong opponent.”
Platner explained that he got the tattoo while on deployment as a Marine while “very inebriated” on leave in Croatia, and “we chose a terrifying-looking skull and crossbones off the wall” at the tattoo parlor.
“We got those and then we all moved on with our lives,” he added, saying that he was screened without issues when he later joined the Army, obtained security clearance, and worked as a State Department contractor without issue.
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“And I’ve also just lived my entire life like a regular person with a skull and crossbones on their chest,” he said, joking about the “Wrecking Ball” clip.
“At no point in this entire experience of my life not once did anybody say ‘Hey, you’re a Nazi.’ It never came up, until we got wind that in the opposition research somebody was shopping the idea that I was secret Nazi with a hidden Nazi tattoo. And I can honestly say that if I was trying to hide it, I have not been doing a very good job for the past 18 years,” he added.
The tattoo received some negative responses from critics on social media, including on the Left.
“No skeletons in his closet, just an apparent Nazi logo on his chest,” MSNBC anchor Catherine Rampell posted to X.
“Gonna be hard to erase this one, literally and figuratively,” The Bulwark’s Sam Stein wrote.
Platner is currently in a primary against Maine’s Democratic Governor, Janet Mills. The winner of that race will face incumbent Senator Susan Collins (R) in one of the most competitive races in the country. Various old Reddit posts of his resurfaced last week, including “I got older and became a communist.”
“The fact that I have managed to go from Communist to Nazi in the space of four days, according to the people who are trying to, whatever, do this to me, I find to be quite a spectacular turn of events,” Platner added in the podcast interview.
Other posts included him saying that, “Bastards. Cops are bastards. All of them, in fact.” The candidate has attempted to turn the tables on the news cycle, sharing other past Reddit posts condemning “misogyny and homophobia in the Marines,” he wrote in a recent X post.
Last week, the National Republican Senatorial Committee torched the posts from Platner.
“Graham Platner is a communist who supports violence against Republicans to promote his radical agenda. These posts are not just him messing around on the internet as he is trying to claim, they paint a very dark picture of a candidate not fit for office,” Samantha Cantrell, NRSC Regional Press Secretary, told The Daily Wire at the time.
The Daily Wire reached out to Platner’s campaign for comment.

Maine Senate Candidate Downplays SS Skull Tattoo: ‘I Am Not A Secret Nazi.’

Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is under scrutiny for a series of resurfaced social media posts in which he declares himself a “communist” and denigrates cops and white people.
CNN’s KFile uncovered the Reddit posts from Platner, who is facing off against Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic primary, the winner of which will take on Republican Senator Susan Collins.
“I got older and became a communist,” Platner, a veteran and oyster farmer, wrote on a Reddit forum dubbed “antiwork” in 2021, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/politics/kfile-graham-platner-maine-senate-candidate-deleted-reddit-posts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>. He also said he was a “vegetable growing, psychedelics taking social these days” in a United States Marine Corps subreddit that same year, saying that he “still got the guns though, I don’t trust the facsists [sic] these days,” citing his past military experience in the post.
“Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are,” the Democrat said about white Americans.
“Bastards. Cops are bastards. All of them, in fact,” Platner said in another post.
<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/16/maine-senate-candidate-promoted-violent-political-action-in-since-deleted-online-posts-00613037" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLITICO</a> reported that Platner wrote other Reddit posts in 2018 suggesting that “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice” and said that a “good semi-automatic rifle” would be expected in order to successfully “fight fascism.”
In addition, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/17/graham-platner-sexual-assault-comments-senate-midterms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Washington Post</a> reported multiple posts he made to Reddit in 2013 regarding sexual assault, including in the military.
“Rape is a real thing. If you’re so worried about it to buy Kevlar underwear you’d think you might not get blacked out f***ed up around people you aren’t comfortable with,” he wrote.
“In today’s current climate, when every whisper of a misplaced hand brings down a feature length film, anyone who actually thinks the military is purposefully covering up rape to save the career of some god damn [captain], is clearly both an idiot and junior enough in rank or life experience to think it matters,” Platner wrote.
<a href="https://www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/17/politics/elections/graham-platner-black-people-tipping-rape-reference-reddit-posts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bangor Daily News</a> on Friday uncovered more of Platner’s Reddit posts, from 2013, in which he calls black people cheap.
“I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is,” Platner wrote. “Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15-20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0-5%. There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?”
The candidate said that the posts circulating do not reflect who he is today.
“As I told CNN, I was f***ing around on the internet at a time when I felt lost and very disillusioned with our government who sent me overseas to watch my friends die,” Platner told POLITICO. “I made dumb jokes and picked fights. But of course I’m not a socialist. I’m a small business owner, a Marine Corps veteran, and a retired s***poster.”
However, Republicans have raised concerns about the candidate’s past comments.
“Graham Platner is a communist who supports violence against Republicans to promote his radical agenda. These posts are not just him messing around on the internet as he is trying to claim, they paint a very dark picture of a candidate not fit for office,” Samantha Cantrell, NRSC Regional Press Secretary, told The Daily Wire in response to the reports on the Democrat.
The Daily Wire reached out to the Platner campaign for comment.

Reddit

Dem Senate Hopeful Called Himself A Communist, Made Racist Comments In Reddit Posts

2026 election

Senator Susan Collins has an unlikely new supporter: Maine Governor Janet Mills, who&#8217;s running against Collins in a contentious race.
The group One Nation on Thursday released an ad that features Mills, a Democrat, praising her Republican opponent just last month.
“I appreciate everything she is doing,&#8221; Mills says in the clip, which comes from a press availability Mills held on Sept. 8 in Waterville, Maine, according to a video posted to the YouTube channel<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-45V9I3AQzg"> Central Maine</a>.
“She’s in a tough position. I appreciate everything she is doing,” she says when asked by a reporter if she thinks Collins is doing enough to counter President Donald Trump on tariffs and other aspects of his agenda.
“Everyone agrees: Sen. Susan Collins is getting results,&#8221; the <a href="https://x.com/OneNationOrg/status/1978796064196210989">ad</a> says.
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The Daily Wire reached out to the Mills campaign for comment. The governor made national headlines over her public disagreement at the White House with Trump over women’s sports.
“I’ll comply with state and federal law,” Mills said in response to Trump asking, “Is Maine here? The governor of Maine? Are you not going to comply with it?”
“We are the federal law,’ Trump said,<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-spars-with-maines-dem-governor-over-men-in-womens-sports-at-white-house"> The Daily Wire</a> reported at the time. “You better do it. Because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t. And by the way, your population, even though it is somewhat liberal although I did very well there. Your population doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports. You better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding.”
“We’ll see you in court,” the governor can be heard saying.
“Good, I’ll see you in court,” the president replied. “I look forward to that, that should be a real easy one. And enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”
Mills touted in a recent X post that,”When Donald Trump tried to strong-arm me, I told him see you in court. So I did. And we won.”
The Cook Political Report currently ranks the race as a “toss-up” along with the Senate races in North Carolina, Georgia, and Michigan.
Collins won her fifth term during the 2020 election, in which she defeated Democrat Sara Gideon, who won just over 42% of the vote compared with Collins pulling roughly 51%.
Graham Platner is also in the Democratic primary alongside Mills, and is currently facing controversy for now-deleted social media posts where he said he was a “communist,” according to<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/politics/kfile-graham-platner-maine-senate-candidate-deleted-reddit-posts"> CNN</a>.

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