Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) is in the process of interviewing campaign managers for a potential Senate run, a sign that she’s moving closer to challenging Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Punchbowl News reports.

Maine News Center: Mills says she’s still seriously considering a run for U.S. Senate.

Eli McKown-Dawson: “The more the state aligns with national trends, the more vulnerable she’ll be — to the point where the race is a toss-up, or even leans Democratic, as some early statistical models show. But she’s probably less vulnerable than a naive read of the data would suggest. We sometimes talk about ‘generic’ candidates, but Collins has been about as far from a generic Republican as you can get when it comes to getting reelected in Maine.”

“So we’re in what I’ve taken to calling a Schrödinger’s Collins situation: she’s simultaneously one of the most vulnerable Senate incumbents and as much of a Maine institution as the lobster roll.”

“Democrats have the choice between oysters and craft beer in the Maine Senate race. Many of them are still pining for more traditional fare,” Semafor reports.

“Over the past two weeks, oyster farmer Graham Platner and brewer Dan Kleban barged into the state’s Democratic primary. But senior Democrats are still hoping to enlist Gov. Janet Mills to challenge longtime Sen. Susan Collins — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.”

“Schumer has twice tried to topple Collins with well-funded challengers, and he’s laser-focused on flipping Maine next year to regain the title of majority leader. While Platner’s launch blitz impressed several Democratic senators and won the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democrats also like Kleban’s profile, they’re still hoping for Mills.”

Maine brewery owner Dan Kleban (D) announced in a video that he is mounting a Senate bid because Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has “been in Washington for 30 years, she stopped looking out for us, she lied about protecting abortion rights, and she refuses to stand up to Donald Trump when it really matters.”

“Bernie Sanders drew 6,500 people to southern Maine on Labor Day Monday to discuss building a grassroots movement to fight the oligarchy, and to introduce them to Graham Platner, the oyster farmer and Marine veteran running for Senate with the Vermont independent’s early support,” Rolling Stone reports.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) appears to be inching closer to challenging Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) next year but remains unhurried about making a final decision, even as interest in the race intensifies, the Portland Press Herald reports.

Mills was asked again about her future political plans and said she’s “seriously considering” running and could decide as early as November.

“Democrats who have tried and failed for years to unseat Senator Susan Collins, the veteran moderate Republican from Maine, are pinning their hopes this time on recruiting Janet Mills, the state’s seasoned Democratic governor, to challenge Ms. Collins’s bid for a sixth term next year,” the New York Times reports.

“But Ms. Mills, 77, is being circumspect about her plans for what could be one of the most competitive Senate races in the country. And some Maine Democrats believe she is too conventional a choice to defeat Ms. Collins, a powerful political force who has demonstrated her staying power.”

“Enter Graham Platner, a 40-year-old oyster farmer and former Marine who served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, and is set on Tuesday to announce a long-shot challenge to Ms. Collins, with a campaign focused on making life better for his state’s working class.”

“There has been widespread speculation that Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, could challenge Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in a run for U.S. Senate when Collins’ term ends in 2026,” WMTW reports.

Said Mills: “That’s the rumor. I don’t know. I would think seriously about it, but I’m not ready to make any decisions along those lines.”

A new Pine Tree State poll in Maine finds Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) at just 14% favorability and with an unfavorability of 57 percent.

“Democrats have one big hope as they scramble to find a top-tier recruit against GOP Sen. Susan Collins in Maine: Maybe she won’t run at all,” CNN reports.

“Collins, the lone New England Senate Republican, who is at the peak of her influence over 28 years in the chamber, has fended off one Democratic foe after another in hard-fought races to hang on to her seat. And again, her seat is pivotal in the Democrats’ uphill climb back to the majority.”

“But Collins, 72, has yet to make a formal announcement that she’ll run in what will almost certainly be a bruising battle for a sixth term. And high-profile potential Democratic candidates, like Gov. Janet Mills and Rep. Jared Golden, are weighing their next moves as they await the veteran senator’s final decision.”

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) might still run against Sen. Susan Collins (R) next year, NOTUS reports.

“Mills has not yet made a decision but could choose to launch a Senate bid as late as the end of this year and still have time to challenge the GOP incumbent.”

A new Morning Consult poll in Maine finds 51% of voters disapprove of Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and 42% approve of her job performance, a rough inversion of her standing in the first quarter of 2019, before she went on to outrun Donald Trump by nearly 7 percentage points and win re-election.

Politico: “Even as ticket-splitting rates have plummeted, Collins has stymied all previous Democratic attempts to oust her from her Maine Senate seat and she remains the only Republican senator left standing in a state that Donald Trump lost in 2024. A rare GOP moderate, she frequently crosses party lines, voting to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial and against confirming his Defense secretary four years later.”

“That has made her unpopular with some Trump voters, but Collins’ path has always been to make up for her weakness on her right flank by bringing in an impressive number of moderate Democrats and cleaning up with independents. In the midterms, Democrats are hoping she’s become so unpalatable that her coalition collapses.”

“Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) plans to run for a sixth term in the Senate, buoying Republicans’ hopes of retaining her seat in 2026,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Collins would be one of the most vulnerable incumbents heading into a less favorable Senate map for Republicans next cycle. She could also face political headwinds with President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House.”

Sen. Angus King (I-ME) looks ready to run for a third term that would make him Maine’s oldest-ever senator, the Bangor Daily News reports.

Sara Gideon (D), who lost her challenge to Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) last November, still had $11.5 million in her campaign account on March 31, according to FEC filings.