In Maine, Many Older Women Prefer Graham Platner for Senate + Janet Mills Attack Ad Against Graham Platner Backfires [View all]

Women in their 60s and beyond will likely play a key role in choosing which Democrat will face Senator Susan Collins: Mr. Platner, 41, or Gov. Janet Mills, 78.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/us/graham-platner-maine-women-voters.html

https://archive.li/XNLpI



Nettie Nelson, 76, had seen the ads for Graham Platner, the 41-year-old Democrat running for Senate in Maine. She was intrigued by Mr. Platner’s focus on the needs of working people, but unsure about his “gruff” demeanor. So Ms. Nelson, who lives in rural Clinton, Maine, drove to a coffee shop in nearby Skowhegan with her husband, Bob, on a recent Saturday to hear Mr. Platner in person. With Maine’s Democratic primary a little more than two months away, Ms. Nelson is carefully weighing her choices. Older women like her are among the most reliable primary voters in the country, and they will almost certainly play a key role in choosing which Democratic challenger will take on Senator Susan Collins, the Republican who has held the seat for three decades, in November.

But the high-stakes showdown between Mr. Platner, an oyster farmer and Iraq War veteran with a populist message, and Gov. Janet Mills, 78, a seasoned moderate from a political family, is playing out amid a nationwide generational rebellion in the Democratic Party. The Platner-Mills battle is among the highest-profile examples of the shift, which has chased household names like Nancy Pelosi and Richard Durbin from Congress, put incumbents such as Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts on their toes and signaled to the party’s field of 2028 presidential aspirants that young voters will demand a voice.

The irony in Maine, the state with the oldest population in the country, may be that many older voters are drawn to the party’s youth movement, too. “It’s hard to say it, but I don’t really want to vote for someone as old as Janet Mills,” said Lucy Leaf, 79, a Democratic voter from Ellsworth, Maine. “I just think we need a fresh look on everything.” In more than two dozen interviews across Maine last week, many older women said they had voted for Ms. Mills in the past, and appreciated her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and her tough stance against President Trump. Some also spoke admiringly of the barriers she broke as the first woman to serve as Maine’s governor and, before that, attorney general.

Yet for many women in their 60s and beyond — a group that could be seen as likely supporters of Ms. Mills — the choice is not yet clear. While they respect the governor and her achievements, many said that her age was a factor in their deliberations, along with their growing conviction that new leadership, energy and ideas are essential for meeting what they view as a moment of crisis in the country. “She has a lot of experience,” Ms. Nelson said of Ms. Mills, looking pensive as she settled into an armchair at Mr. Platner’s event in Skowhegan. “Is that good?”

snip


related


Leaked Video: Janet Mills Attack Ad Against Graham Platner Backfires With Maine Democrats

A Zoom recording with Gov. Janet Mills captures unfiltered voter reactions to the governor’s recent attack ad against her U.S. Senate primary opponent, Graham Platner.

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/leaked-video-janet-mills-attack-ad-graham-platner-voter-reactions

On March 19, Gov. Janet Mills attended the Hancock County Democrats’ monthly meeting to answer questions from prospective voters ahead of the upcoming U.S. Senate primary. Days earlier, the Mills campaign released an ad attacking her Democratic primary opponent Graham Platner over disparaging remarks he made on Reddit in 2013 about victims of rape.

Drop Site has obtained a Zoom recording of the Q&A with Mills, showing significant dissatisfaction with the attacks among voters in Platner’s home county. The negative ad—which features Democratic Party consultants—was released on March 17, as multiple polls showed Mills trailing Platner in the primary and underperforming him in general election matchups against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The recording begins with a question from a Hancock County woman concerned by the recent negative tone of the Mills campaign.



“I’m a member of the #MeToo generation, and I was offended by your ad. I’d very much like you to run a clean campaign,” the female Hancock County voter says to Mills. “Let’s have a positive campaign. I don’t think anyone should be attacking another Democrat, right before the primary, and using underhanded means and that kind of language. What you have done is wonderful. So, speak about what you have done, don’t demolish the other candidate in an underhanded way. And I’m sorry, that’s not a question, that’s a statement.”

snip



POLLING:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_Senate_election_in_Maine

Democratic Primary Polling



Susan Collins vs. Janet Mills Polling - General Election



Susan Collins vs. Graham Platner Polling - General Election