Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills officially launched her campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins on Tuesday, with a video highlighting her opposition to President Donald Trump, who she characterized as a “bully.” x x YouTube Video In the campaign video, Mills highlighted her comment of “see you in court” to Trump at a February meeting in the White House. The statement was in response to Trump attempting to berate Mills for opposing his administration’s attempt to ban transgender children from participating in school sports. Trump attempted to withhold federal funding from Maine over the issue but in April a federal judge ordered the Department of Agriculture to pay out the money to the state. Related | ‘See you in court’: Governor refuses to bow to Trump’s bigoted ban “We stood up to Trump and stopped him from cutting the school lunch program for Maine kids,” Mills says in her ad, before going on to criticize Collins for letting “bullies like Trump have their way.” Collins has long presented herself as a moderate representing Maine’s mix of Democratic and Republican voters but has often allied herself with the right wing. She declined to vote to remove Trump from office in 2020 despite the House majority agreeing that he had committed high crimes. Collins also voted to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, whose vote led to the eventual repeal of Roe v. Wade and the loss of abortion rights for millions of Americans. Mills is not alone in challenging Collins. Oyster farmer Graham Platner is also running for the Democratic Party’s Senate nomination and has attracted the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders. A Zenith Research poll of Maine voters conducted Oct.7-10 found both Mills and Platner polling ahead of Collins, with Platner ahead by 14 and Mills up 8. In Morning Consult’s tracking poll of governors around the country, Mills was the most unpopular Democratic governor—but her approval rating of 49% to 46% disapproval is leagues ahead of Collins, who has a 38% approval rating and 54% disapproval. Maine is traditionally considered a Democratic-leaning state and former Vice President Kamala Harris won it in the 2024 election. Collins has been one of the top targets of the Democratic Party and the party’s Senate campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, has been criticizing Collins for siding with her fellow Republicans to shut down the federal government. “Collins is shutting down the government instead of working to address the health care crisis she helped create, and in 2026 Mainers will hold her accountable at the ballot box,” DSCC spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a September statement. Read more