Gov. Janet Mills doesn’t plan to endorse a candidate to replace Graham Platner as Maine’s democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.
“I’m not picking a horse in that race,” she said Thursday when asked by a reporter who she’d like to see as the nominee. Mills was attending her office’s annual opioid response summit at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Thirteen candidates met the deadline Wednesday night to declare for the nomination ahead of an unprecedented sprint for the party to choose a new nominee after Platner dropped out following an ex-girlfriend’s sexual assault allegations.
The oyster-farming political newcomer beat out Mills in a record-setting primary victory, earning 77.7% of votes to the governor’s 16.7% after she suspended her bid in April, citing lack of funds.
Of the 13 people vying to replace Platner, six lost in June primaries, including Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former Senate President Troy Jackson, former public health chief Nirav Shah, former Capitol Hill staffer Jordan Wood, social worker Paige Loud and former government official David Costello.
Candidates must collect at least 500 signatures from registered Democrats by Monday to take part in a 601-member convention in Bangor on Saturday, July 25, where delegates and state committee members will decide the nomination through elimination-round voting.
Democrats in each county will choose their delegates this weekend.