Making Maine voters consider life without her in Congress has been a staple of Collins' messaging since 2020. Now it’s at the center of her pitch to voters who may be ambivalent about electing her to a sixth term.

Susan Collins brings federal dollars to Maine. She's hoping that's worth it to voters

As Maine's Senate matchup is all but set, incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins urges voters to pick her over Democrat Graham Platner because she can fund state priorities due to her seniority.

buff.ly

For @npr: Gov. Janet Mills is trying to make the electability case, but she trails Graham Platner in polls, money and, arguably, message. And his movement-based campaign is seemingly ubiquitous in #mesen 📻✍️ www.npr.org/2026/04/21/n...

For Maine Democrats, it's battle-tested Mills vs. populist Platner in Senate primary

In recent weeks, Maine Gov. Janet Mills has struggled to take an authoritative lead against her challenger in the Democratic Senate primary, Graham Platner. He is leading her in fundraising and polls.

npr.org

An increasingly bruising primary between the two leading Dem candidates vying to topple Republican Sen. Susan Collins has both contenders dipping deep into their campaign coffers, while Collins has so far spent little on her reelection bid via @npr.org 📻✍️ www.npr.org/2026/03/26/n...

Hoping to unseat Collins, Maine Democrats battle it out in an expensive U.S. Senate primary

As June's primary election nears, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and combat veteran Graham Platner are effectively engaged in a proxy battle between factions in their own party.

npr.org

Analysis by AdImpact shows spending in Maine Senate race is already above $37M with 8 months until election. On pace to shatter the 2020 state record of more than $200M. It's accelerated by the Dem primary where Platner and Mills are battling to face Sen. Collins. 1/

Trailing in polls, Mills' attack ad leans heavily on one of her strengths to try to expose a potential weakness in her opponent’s resilient candidacy: women voters. It's a confrontational tack in a party primary, outracing the armada of PACs that often assume that role buff.ly/xWOWag9

In attacking Graham Platner, Maine Gov. Janet Mills hopes women will energize her U.S. Senate bid

This week, Mills, who's been trailing Platner in publicly available polling, launched an attack ad that leans heavily on one of her strengths to try to expose a potential weakness in her opponent’s…

mainepublic.org

ICYMI: How a novel debate in the Maine gubernatorial race looked like the social media fight that made it happen -- and why it seemed to capture our current political moment. 🔊 📻 buff.ly/kcfmKm2?

This novel Maine gubernatorial debate was born from a social media tussle. Will there be more?

At times, the debate between Republican Bobby Charles and Democrat Troy Jackson resembled a fight one might witness on Facebook — angry and personal. But this was live and in-person, making for a…

buff.ly

At times, the debate between Republican Bobby Charles and Democrat Troy Jackson resembled a fight one might witness on Facebook — angry and personal. https://www.mainepublic.org/2026-02-26/this-novel-maine-gubernatorial-debate-was-born-from-a-social-media-tussle-will-there-be-more

This novel Maine gubernatorial debate was born from a social media tussle. Will there be more?

At times, the debate between Republican Bobby Charles and Democrat Troy Jackson resembled a fight one might witness on Facebook — angry and personal. But this was live and in-person, making for a dizz...

mainepublic.org

One of the big surprises in the UNH poll showing Platner with a huge lead over Mills is how one quarter of the Dem respondents self-identify as socialists. Is that really representative of the Dem primary electorate? I dunno, but ... 1/2 scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcont...

Crowdsurfing. Not sure there’s a better metaphor for his campaign.

Graham Platner for Senate@grahamformaine.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Thanks for always standing up for the working class @dropkickmurphys.com. Incredible to stand up there with you tonight.

Maine U.S. Sen. Susan Collins asks DHS to pause ICE surge in Maine, Minnesota, calling the operations too sweeping and indiscriminate. buff.ly/SpKPGzF

Susan Collins asks DHS to pause immigration enforcement surge in Maine and Minnesota

The Republican is standing by her calls to pass new funding for DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying a new spending bill will include new accountability measures. But she says the…

mainepublic.org

details illustrate how the company faces greater scrutiny from regulators than previously known. It also reveals the complexities of investigating fraud in a $5.4 billion program that is largely monitored for irregularities by a small program integrity unit

State referred embattled MaineCare provider for fraud investigation before halting payments

New details illustrate how the company faces greater scrutiny from regulators than previously known, and reveal the complexities of investigating fraud in a $5.4 billion program that is largely monito...

mainepublic.org

Senate Leadership Fund says it’s dumping $42M in effort to defend Sen. Susan Collins. Here’s our guide to the groups spending big on MESEN. We’re updating regularly. www.mainepublic.org/politics/202...

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A previously unreported and recently completed audit found that Gateway Community Services overbilled MaineCare by more than $1 million. The state says such suspensions are imposed when there's suspected fraud: www.mainepublic.org/politics/202...

State suspends MaineCare payments to Portland provider over suspected fraud

Gateway Community Services had already faced scrutiny for overbilling MaineCare, the state's Medicaid program. A previously unreported and recently completed audit found that the provider overbilled t...

mainepublic.org

I wrote about Rob Reiner's shockingly good performance in The Wolf Of Wall Street in this, but it's striking how many different films and parts Defector staffers wanted to write about. He was a mensch, but he was also just everywhere in the culture for 50 years. defector.com/defectors-fa...

Defector's Favorite Rob Reiner Credits | Defector

When Rob Reiner was killed earlier this week along with his wife Michelle, the world of film lost one of its most beloved and respected figures, an artist who had done very good and extremely popular ...

defector.com

A constellation of deep-pocketed outside groups is already poised to spend big to affect the outcome of the 2026 Maine U.S. Senate race that could determine which party controls the chamber after the midterm elections. Some of these groups are already running ads 🧵

ICYMI: In interviews Platner has been open about his post-combat struggles. Now he’s talking about it more frequently at his heavily attended town halls. It seems to be making his campaign more resilient, his supporters more devoted. Listen 🎧📻

Graham Platner is sharing more about post-combat struggles. Has it made his campaign more resilient?

Deleted Reddit posts and tattoo controversies blunted the Democrat's U.S. Senate candidate's surge of early momentum. Now the oyster farmer and military veteran is talking more about his battle with…

mainepublic.org

Worth your time to read this Laura Loomer piece. Includes a peek at the pay-to-play influencer machine Laura Loomer’s Endless Payback www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Wrote about the Dems’ shutdown backlash against Sen. Angus King and others. One of the clearest examples yet that they’re experiencing a tea party-like moment — with the ACA helping it along. www.mainepublic.org/politics/202...

Angus King broke ranks to help end the government shutdown. The backlash has been withering

The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history is over. But with little to show for it, the mostly Democratic politicians who ended the standoff now face intense backlash.

mainepublic.org

The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history is over. But with little to show for it, the mostly Democratic politicians who ended the standoff now face intense backlash:

Angus King broke ranks to help end the government shutdown. The backlash has been withering

The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history is over. But with little to show for it, the mostly Democratic politicians who ended the standoff now face intense backlash.

mainepublic.org

Platner has a new campaign manager. A local guy. Never done it before. www.mainepublic.org/politics/202...

Platner taps Maine progressive leader to lead campaign

Ben Chin of the Maine People's Alliance will become U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner's new campaign manager. He arrives as the campaign has been beset by staff upheaval.

mainepublic.org

Been to several of these now. The stump varies on delivery — he’s ditched the notes and pretty much riffs — but essentially the same message. What I noticed tonight, though, is the questions are getting tougher

Steve Mistler@stevemistler.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Graham Platner at the Chocolate Church in Bath. Full house. Seats 300. Begins by calling on attendees to support local food banks amid shutdown and suspension of SNAP assistance.

Graham Platner at the Chocolate Church in Bath. Full house. Seats 300. Begins by calling on attendees to support local food banks amid shutdown and suspension of SNAP assistance.

Jared Golden made the announcement in a lengthy column published in the Bangor Daily News in which he lamented the increasing hostility in the nation's politics and threats against him and his family:

Maine congressman Jared Golden decides not to seek reelection to US House

Jared Golden made the announcement in a lengthy column published in the Bangor Daily News in which he lamented the increasing hostility in the nation's politics and threats against him and his family.

mainepublic.org

Gun rights groups have long held supremacy over Maine’s gun laws. The Lewiston mass shooting brought new scrutiny. Two years later, voters approved a red flag law that supporters say could have prevented the tragedy. www.mainepublic.org/politics/202...

Mainers pass Question 2, enacting red-flag gun law

Mainers have enacted a red-flag gun law at the ballot box, with 58.8% of the vote. The Associated Press called the race at 9:55 p.m. on Nov. 4, 2025.

mainepublic.org

In Sept, Graham Platner said the response to his campaign has been "surreal." Reality has arrived over the past week. Now comes a test of Maine Democratic primary voters' risk aversion. buff.ly/0aayG5f

Will Graham Platner's commanding polling lead falter amid stream of opposition research releases?

For nearly two months, Graham Platner’s bid for the U.S. Senate was marked by momentum and bravado as the political newcomer drew big crowds to his town halls and he channeled Democratic voters’…

mainepublic.org

For nearly two months, Graham Platner’s bid for the U.S. Senate was marked by momentum and bravado as the political newcomer drew big crowds to his town halls and he channeled Democratic voters’ hopes for a newer, brasher kind of candidate:

Will Graham Platner's commanding polling lead falter amid stream of opposition research releases?

For nearly two months, Graham Platner’s bid for the U.S. Senate was marked by momentum and bravado as the political newcomer drew big crowds to his town halls and he channeled Democratic voters’ hopes...

mainepublic.org

Really interesting pollster note in the UNH survey. Tries to account for Mills performance v Platner with declining approval. Her approval was +4 in August before she got in the race but flirting with it. It dropped to -12 once she got in. Did approval fall because she got in? buff.ly/ehktz3M

Coast Guard Buys Two Private Jets for Noem, Costing $172 Million www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...

Coast Guard Buys Two Private Jets for Noem, Costing $172 Million

nytimes.com

Proponents of Question 2 argue the existing law — often referred to as Maine’s yellow flag law — is a failed experiment that was not used to stop a gunman in Lewiston from killing 18 people and injuring and traumatizing countless others in 2023 despite warnings about his deteriorating mental health:

With Question 2, voters will weigh in on whether Maine's current gun-confiscation law is sufficient

Proponents of Question 2 argue that the existing law — often referred to as Maine’s yellow flag law — is a failed experiment that was not used to stop a gunman in Lewiston from killing 18 people and i...

mainepublic.org