Jon Reisman

Janet Mills, Graham Platner, and Susan Collins are all campaigning hard for the U.S. Senate. The June Democratic primary and the November general election will likely set Maine expenditure records. All that money and attention is going to produce a lot of friction and heat, but illuminating light will likely be in short supply.

Janet Mills just delivered a shameless campaign speech masquerading as a State of the State address. Gov. Mills has nearly doubled state spending from $7 billion to $13-plus billion during her tenure. She proposed even more by raiding the rainy-day fund for housing and other initiatives that would bolster her senate candidacy. 

She declined to discuss Chinese Triad Grow Houses, Somali fraud, and her disastrous climate, energy, and gender policies. Overall, her campaign speech caused almost a dozen Republican legislators to walk out. 

Janet highlighted her progressive anti-Trump credentials while subtly suggesting she’s a “moderate” relative to Platner’s hard left socialism. I don’t think that dog will hunt amongst Democratic primary voters.

Meanwhile, Platner draws crowds and attention. Mills is old and uninspiring; Platner is young and charismatic. The fact that he’s a socialist doesn’t matter to the Democratic base. Mills is the past, with many bad memories; Platner is the future, promising hopes and dreams. It is a Brave New World dystopic future, but that clarity of vision is nowhere to be found in the Democratic electorate. 

I believe Platner will win the June primary, perhaps handily and end Janet Mills political career with a humiliating defeat. The Mills/Platner primary will be the big turnout draw for Democrats, with spillover effects on the Democratic gubernatorial primary. 

I don’t see Platner voters supporting Mills protege Hannah Pingree. A Platner victory in the Senate primary might mean sweet gubernatorial dreams for Shenna Bellows, even if it’s a nightmare for Maine.

Meanwhile, Sen. Collins dropped a campaign bombshell of her own when she announced that ICE special operations in Maine would be ending at her request. Coming just a week after President Trump had opposed her re-election, Sen. Collins deftly disarmed and dissipated both the left and President Trump’s disdain. 

Trump’s denunciation of Susan may well have been calculated and cunning; it’s much more likely to help her with independents than hurt her with Republicans. The chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee is not shy about highlighting all the manna she manufactures for Maine, but she is somehow able to do it without the President’s off-putting narcissistic swagger.

The last election Susan Collins lost was the 1994 gubernatorial election to Angus King. In 1996

She defeated two more conservative Republican state senators to win the nomination and eventually, Bill Cohen’s Senate seat. In 2002, she defeated Chellie Pingree. In 2008, she defeated Tom Allen. In 2014, she defeated Shenna Bellows, winning all 16 counties. In 2020, she defeated better-financed progressive favorite Sarah Gideon, much to the surprise and disappointment of Maine’s left. 

I hope and expect her to do it again, whether she faces the socialist or the spendthrift.

Jon Reisman is an economist and policy analyst who retired from the University of Maine at Machias after 38 years. He resides on Cathance Lake in Cooper, where he is a Statler and Waldorf intern. Mr. Reisman’s views are his own, and he welcomes comments as letters to the editor here or to him directly via email at jreisman@maine.edu.