Campaign
In April 2025, Jordan Wood became the first Democrat to announce his Senate candidacy. Wood previously worked as chief of staff to U.S. Representative Katie Porter, and helped lead the End Citizens United political action committee. [19] [20] On August 19, 2025, Sullivan Harbor Master Graham Platner announced his candidacy, [21] receiving the support of organized labor and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. [22] Progressive, and younger, Democratic senators, like Elizabeth Warren, Chris Murphy, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Andy Kim, have also expressed support for Platner's candidacy, while stopping short of endorsing in the primary, as of October 2025. [23] [24] Term-limited Governor Janet Mills was seen as a potential candidate to challenge Collins for months, with national Democrats like the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) encouraging her to run, [25] [26] [27] [28] though others, such as Sanders, have publicly discouraged her from running. [29] Leaked campaign documents in early October indicated that Mills was set to enter the race shortly, [30] and Mills officially announced her campaign on October 14. [31] [32] Mills would be the oldest freshman senator in history, at 79 years old at the start of the term should she be elected, causing some to express concern about her age. [33] [32] Mills has said she plans to serve one term should she be elected. [34] Several other Democrats have also announced campaigns. After Mills' announcement, Democratic candidates Dan Kleban and Daira Smith-Rodriguez withdrew their candidacies and endorsed Mills. [35] [36] The DSCC and Mills formed a joint fundraising committee for her campaign leading to backlash and allegations of undue favor towards Mills in the primary from the Senate Democratic leadership. [37] [38] [39] [40] [41]
Shortly after Mills entered the race, Platner came under fire for resurfaced controversial Reddit posts, resulting in his campaign's political director, former state representative Genevieve McDonald, quitting the campaign and calling Platner "unelectable". However, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin stated that the comments were not disqualifying, [42] and Platner apologized in a five-minute video posted to social media. On October 21, Platner released a video of himself dancing and singing shirtless at his brother's wedding, revealing he had a chest tattoo that resembled the Totenkopf used by Nazi Germany's Schutzstaffel . Platner stated he got the tattoo while inebriated with other Marines while stationed in Croatia, mistaking the symbol for a skull and crossbones. He had the tattoo covered, [43] and professed his shame and disgust for getting a tattoo that resembled the fascist insignia. [44] Platner also called himself an anti-fascist "supersoldier" in an old Reddit comment. [45] Senator Chris Murphy defended Platner in an interview and said that he "sounds like a human being to me" [46] [47] [48] while Senator Ruben Gallego called his campaign "authentic" and said that he has "the right to grow out of his stupidity" and is not going to be a "crypto Fetterman". [49] [50]
On November 12, Wood withdrew from the race to instead run for the U.S. House of Representatives seat in Maine's 2nd congressional district after incumbent Democrat Jared Golden announced he would not seek re-election. [51]
