Gov. Janet Mills’ supporters publicly insist she can still win Maine’s Senate seat. But quietly, many of them in both Maine and Washington say she’s running out of time to defeat Graham Platner in the primary.
“In the last week, for a lot of people, the perception of her race has really changed,” said one Maine Democratic official, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “I just think her negative ads don’t feel like they’re working.”
The governor’s campaign unveiled a run of ads in mid-March targeting Platner over his controversial history of online comments. Some of Mills’ supporters had eagerly anticipated the ads, believing they would be the key to convincing Democratic voters that Platner was unfit to be the party’s nominee against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.