PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Three days after a poll showed U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner with a massive lead over her, Gov. Janet Mills said Republican ads would “make mincemeat of him” if he is the Democratic nominee.
The governor’s comments were some of her strongest so far about Platner, the progressive oyster farmer from Sullivan who powered through a chaotic series of controversies in the fall to outraise both Mills and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins during the last three months of 2025.
His emergence has reshaped the race against the five-term Republican. Mills is supported by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, making her a top recruit in a race that her party effectively needs to win to take back control of the Senate in the November election.
Unions loyal to Platner are trying to get Schumer to stand down, NBC News reported. But Mills was defiant while speaking to a reporter at an official event at Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle on Friday ahead of a campaign swing to Fort Kent for the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races.
She challenged the University of New Hampshire poll released Tuesday that showed her 38 points behind Platner and referenced massive ad spending by one outside group tied to Republican leaders to argue that her opponent would be unelectable.
“If he were to make it to the general election, the Republican machinery, which has already put … $42 million behind TV advertising this fall, would make mincemeat of him,” she said.
In a statement, Platner spokesperson Charlie Hills said the candidate’s work in traveling the state has paid off, noting the UNH poll had him leading Collins as well as Mills.
“Graham has been traveling all over the state — meeting Mainers, hearing from them about the challenges they face, and making his pitch for why they should support him,” he said.
The governor was referring to the October disclosures that rocked Platner’s campaign, including old Reddit posts, some from 2013, that asked why Black people didn’t tip and said sexual assault victims should “take some responsibility for themselves.” He later apologized for the posts, which he said do not reflect his current thinking.
Just after that, it became public that Platner had a chest tattoo of a skull-and-crossbones symbol resembling one adopted by the Nazis. He said he did not know of its association at the time and got it covered last year. He repeated his explanation on a Thursday podcast hosted by comedian Tim Heidecker after he was pressed on the issue by a caller.
“I’m not going to apologize for something that, like, I didn’t know about or do,” he said. “And the moment that we found it … I got it covered, because I don’t want that on my body.”
Mills and her campaign have criticized the UNH poll for heavy sampling of self-described socialists and younger voters who swing heavily toward Platner at the expense of seniors who favor Mills. The same survey also erred in October when it showed a voter ID referendum effectively tied when it later lost by 20 points.
But Platner was only trailing Mills by 4 points among those 65 and older in the UNH survey and also led Collins which is an ominous sign for the governor’s campaign. She led Platner by double figures in a Maine-based poll conducted between November and December.