Democrats had hoped the governor, who has challenged President Donald Trump in an ongoing legal and political showdown over his order to keep males out of females' sports, would successfully challenge five-term Republican incumbent Susan Collins (R) in this fall's critical U.S. Senate race.
But in the face of sinking primary poll numbers and fundraising problems, Mills has suspended her campaign.
Far-left challenger Graham Platner, who has faced significant scrutiny regarding a chest tattoo (pictured below) that resembled the Totenkopf (death's head), a symbol utilized by the Nazi SS "Honor Ring" and concentration camp guards, is now the presumptive Democratic nominee.
"I think Susan Collins must be delighted," comments Washington Times columnist Robert Knight. "Mills was, I thought, pretty popular in Maine, and now Collins is facing this guy … who is basically a Nazi. He had a Nazi tattoo on his chest, and not just any Nazi tattoo. It was … the symbol of the SS troops, the ones who rounded up the Jews to commit the Holocaust."
The first-time political candidate reportedly got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007, when he was in his 20s and in the Marine Corps. He says it happened during a night of drinking while he was on leave in Croatia, adding he was unaware until recently that the image is associated with Nazi police.
Platner's campaign initially said he would remove the tattoo, but he chose instead to cover it up with another tattoo.
Still, Knight says Platner is bad news.
Though he backs gun rights more than many Democrats, he argues that economic injustice is the root of social conflict. He supports LGBTQ and illegal immigrants' rights and social protections and has been critical of Israel and called for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
"This guy is so far out, so left-wing and so crazy," Knight asserts. "You get a guy like Graham Platner in there, he'll be another Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, or even worse."
In the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris won the statewide vote with about 52.4%, and three of Maine's four electoral votes.
In this U.S. Senate race, some polling shows Platner leading Collins in a potential general election matchup, but margins and consistency vary, and Collins is widely seen as a formidable incumbent with crossover appeal, especially among moderates.
With Gov. Mills out of the race, Knight thinks Collins "should have a much easier time being reelected."
"If the people of Maine send [Platner] to the Senate, that will mean that Maine has succumbed to the Democrat insanity, who oppose most of what the American people believe in," the columnist says.
The race is considered a top national battleground that could help decide Senate control.
