During an interview with the Portland Press Herald, Gov. Janet Mills wouldn’t rule out running against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in two years. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

After a decisive reelection victory two years ago, Gov. Janet Mills suggested that she would not run for another elected office.

Mills earned 55.4% of the vote in a three-way race in November 2022 and the following month told the Press Herald, “I don’t plan to run for anything else.”

But in an interview this week, Mills sounded like she is having second thoughts.

She stressed that her only focus is on her final two years in office and addressing the economic and pocketbook issues facing Maine families.

But when asked about a possible 2026 run, Mills did not rule out challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Maine’s senior senator and the incoming chair of the Senate’s powerful Appropriations Committee.

“Right now, I’ve got two years to finish up my term and do the best I can for the people of Maine,” the 76-year-old governor said when asked about 2026. “That’s my intent now. I intend to focus on that and nothing else right now.”

Later, Mills added, “I am pleased that (Collins) is chairing the Appropriations Committee. That’s an asset for the state of Maine and I congratulate her on that.”

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

Collins’ leadership of appropriations will put her in a strong position to steer funding to Maine and play a key role in a range of policy decisions. But her rocky relationship with President-elect Donald Trump could make her a target for Democrats and Republicans alike.

A Collins spokesperson acknowledged that Mills would be a formidable opponent if she chooses to run.

“Governor Mills would certainly be a strong candidate, and if she were to run, we would expect a professional, issues-oriented campaign,” Collins spokesperson Annie Clark said.

Mark Brewer, political science chair at the University of Maine, said Mills’ response was “very interesting” and could effectively freeze the field of possible Democratic candidates looking to challenge the 71-year-old Collins.

“I think it makes perfectly good sense for Mills for a variety of reasons to keep that space open,” Brewer said. “Her not saying ‘no’ – that probably causes any other Democrat who was thinking about it to take a step back.”

During a 30-minute interview in her office on Tuesday, Mills talked about her strong roots in rural Maine, including Aroostook and Franklin counties. She talked about how most Mainers are moderates who seek commonsense solutions rather than either extreme liberal or conservative ideologies, and how the incoming Legislature needs to focus on the economy and the pocketbook issues facing many families.

In other words, Mills, who has promised to present a lean state budget, is signaling that she will stay true to her moderate, centrist political brand, rather than capitulating to the more progressive wing of her party as some Republican critics have predicted. Democrats have had control of the budget and policy priorities since she took office in 2019 because the party has held majorities in both the House and Senate. They will continue to be the majority party in the coming session, though with smaller margins after Republicans picked up seats.

Gov. Janet Mills says she is focused on her final two years as governor, but some see her as a potential rival to Sen. Susan Collins in 2026. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

APPROVAL RATINGS

Mills has twice proven she can win statewide elections, and her approval ratings in recent polls are approaching those of U.S. Sen. Angus King, who cruised to reelection last month at age 80.

A poll from Digital Research of Portland before the election had Mills’ approval rating at 50% – only 3 percentage points shy of King, who is routinely Maine’s most popular politician. Previous biannual polls by the same firm have Mills’ approval ranging from a low of 46% to a high of 62%. Collins, meanwhile, has not broken 40% since winning reelection in 2020 against a well-funded opponent.

In 2022, Mills battled Paul LePage, a former two-term Republican governor, to a near draw in the more rural, conservative 2nd Congressional District, which has supported Trump in the past three presidential elections. She won nearly 48% of the vote in the 2nd District in 2022.

Collins, meanwhile, is the state’s most senior member of Congress, serving in her fifth six-year term. She told reporters in Washington, D.C., this month that she plans to seek another term in office. As Senate appropriations chair, she is positioned to bring home federal money for local projects – something she has proven to be particularly skilled at.

Collins has secured more than $1 billion worth of earmarks for 514 projects in Maine since Congress ended a ban on earmarks in 2021, according to her office. That doesn’t include earmarks, known as Congressionally Directed Spending, included in fiscal 2025 spending bills that have not yet been signed.

Collins has secured nearly $361 million in earmarks this year – second only to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s nearly $499 million, according to an analysis by Roll Call, which found that 15 of the top 20 earmarkers were Senate appropriations members.

Collins has delivered some key votes for Trump, including his judicial nominations, and criticized his New York hush money case as being politically motivated. But Collins has also refused to endorse any of Trump’s three presidential campaigns and was among seven Republican senators who voted to impeach him for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.

PRECARIOUS POSITION

And Collins has recently called for a full vetting of Trump’s Cabinet nominations, as the president-elect has called for recess appointments to bypass that process.

Those dynamics could put Collins in a precarious position ahead of her reelection, since Trump demands loyalty and has claimed a mandate to implement his agenda, including mass deportations of immigrants here illegally, slashing federal spending and using tariffs as leverage to combat illegal immigration and drugs.

“We don’t know how the next two years are going to go, but it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Trump does a fair amount over the next two years that enrage not only Democrats but really riles up a lot of independent voters and maybe even some more-traditional Republicans,” Brewer said. “That could put Collins in a really tough spot, and it could put whoever the Democratic challenger is in an advantageous spot.”

Collins was believed to be vulnerable in 2020, after her controversial vote to install Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Supreme Court. Kavanaugh would become part of the new conservative majority that ended federal abortion protections afforded for 50 years under Roe v. Wade, a precedent Collins said Kavanaugh told her was settled law.

Former House Speaker Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, spent $64 million in 2020 trying to unseat Collins, who spent less than half of that amount. Collins trailed in many polls measuring the race, where spending by the campaigns and outside groups topped $200 million.

Collins won by 9 percentage points and was the only Republican senator to win reelection in a state won by Biden. She is the only remaining Republican member of Congress in New England.

From left, White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi, Rep. Jared Golden, Sen. Susan Collins and Gov. Janet Mills listen to remarks during a ceremony marking the return of manufacturing to the mill in Madison last July. Michael Seamans/Morning Sentinel

Raw vote totals in each of their last elections show Collins, who has been a senator since 1996, with broader support. She received 40,711 more votes in 2020 than Mills did in 2022. Collins received 417,645 statewide votes in 2020, while Mills received 376,934 statewide votes.

Nicholas Jacobs, an assistant government professor at Colby College, said Democrats nationally and locally learned that it’s going to take more than money and mobilization to unseat Collins. They need a moderate with statewide appeal, in addition to uncomfortable votes for Collins in Congress, he said.

THE BIG VARIABLE

“If Collins is vulnerable in 2026, it will only be because a moderate Democrat or somebody who can appeal across the center is running against her,” Jacobs said. “There are fewer Democrats than there once were with statewide reputations, who would be able to mount a high-profile challenge within that sort of ideological centrist zone.

“The big variable will be just how tight of a spot Collins is going to be placed in under the new Trump administration. If she has to take so many Brett Kavanaugh-type votes, I think she won’t be able to outrun that.”

Brewer said he expects some of the top Democrats in the state, such as Rep. Jared Golden, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, are probably thinking more about running for governor in 2026, which could increase pressure on Mills to challenge Collins.

“If you’re a Democrat in Maine and you’re looking at who might be at the top of your list if you could get them to run against Collins in two years, I think Mills and Golden are obviously at the top of that list,” Brewer said. “And I think it’s highly unlikely that Golden will run against Collins.”

Golden, a Marine veteran, got his political start by serving as an aide to Collins in Washington, D.C.

But Mills is not inclined to say much more at this point. When a reporter observed that she was not explicitly ruling out a 2026 run, she simply replied, “Look, I intend to do my job.”