Gov. Janet Mills raised $1 million during the first 24 hours of her campaign for the Democratic nomination to face U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in 2026.
The Mills campaign shared the sum after the governor officially joined the race Tuesday morning with a launch video that focused on her efforts to stand up to President Donald Trump as Mills also argued Collins, the lone Republican senator in New England, and other politicians “bend the knee” while Trump carries out his agenda.
The initial Mills fundraising haul is a massive sum for Maine but fell well short of the launches for other top Senate recruits. Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, raised $3.4 million in 24 hours this summer after launching a bid for his state’s open U.S. Senate seat, while former Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio brought in $3.6 million.
Mills still reached the $1 million milestone faster than her main rival for the Democratic nomination, Sullivan oyster farmer Graham Platner, although he began the campaign as a virtual unknown. He raised that much in nine days, while a third Democratic candidate, political operative Jordan Wood of Bristol, reached the mark in seven weeks.
Collins has a head start on all of them. Her campaign said Wednesday that it had raised $8.1 million through the end of last month and has $6.7 million left on hand.
After word spread Friday of Mills’ likely entrance into the Senate race this week, her campaign slipped by posting and then deleting a fundraising video and link to an ActBlue page.