Janet Mills Pushes Talking Filibuster to Unseat Susan Collins in Maine Senate Race

In Maine’s Democratic Senate contest, Gov. Janet Mills is pitching changes to the filibuster while seeking to unseat longtime Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

“20 Minutes with AFP Published February 22, 2025 at 02:48 • Updated February 22, 2025 at 11:00 Tension has escalated to a new level between Donald Trump and Maine Governor Janet Mills”

20 Minutes

Fox News reports that Mills released a 19-page policy platform calling for a “talking filibuster” approach in which “Senators to remain on the Senate floor and actually speak, rather than simply threatening a filibuster to delay action.”

20 Minutes

The same Fox News account ties Mills’s position to a broader fight over the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold, describing it as a “flashpoint in the Senate” because it requires legislation to be bipartisan in nature.

Fox News also says Mills’s desire to change the filibuster echoes a push by Trump and conservatives to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, and it quotes Mills saying, “Washington is broken, and Maine people are paying the price.”

The Fox News story further frames the political stakes around Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and a talking filibuster demand aimed at moving the SAVE America Act.

In the same Fox News narrative, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is described as having dubbed the legislation “Jim Crow 2.0” and rallied his caucus behind defeating the measure.

The Fox News account also places Mills’s political posture in a wider conflict with Trump, recalling that in 2025 she told him, “We’ll see you in court,” over an executive order denying federal funding to states that allowed transgender athletes to participate in sports.

While the Senate race narrative unfolded, multiple outlets described a Trump administration immigration enforcement push in Maine that residents and state leaders say has generated fear and uncertainty.

La Jornada reports that “El Gobierno de Trump comenzó una operación de control de inmigración en Maine,” saying that “Más de 100 agentes llegaron al gélido estado del noreste esta semana,” and it adds that the operation would focus on refugees, according to an immigration official and a former official.

BFM

Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra says Mills questioned “los ‘arrestos secretos’ de ICE,” asking Congress to cut ICE funding a day after she demanded federal immigration officials provide arrest orders, real-time detention figures, and basic information on who is being detained.

Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra quotes Mills directly: “Si tienen órdenes de arresto, que las muestren. En Estados Unidos, no creemos en arrestos secretos ni en policía secreta”.

The same Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra account says federal officials told it that “se realizaron alrededor de 50 arrestos el primer día” and that approximately “1,400 personas son objetivos de la operación” in Maine, which it describes as “mayormente rural” with “1,4 millones de habitantes” and “el 4%” foreign-born.

It also reports that Mills said she would be “sorprendida” if agents could corroborate claims that so many people in Maine have criminal charges, and it quotes her saying, “En su mayoría, estamos recibiendo informes de personas que no han participado en actividades delictivas”.

Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra further describes community anxiety in Portland and Lewiston, saying leaders reported families staying home, avoiding work, and not sending children to school, and it quotes Mills saying, “Hay personas que están siendo separadas de sus familias y de sus hijos pequeños, personas que forman parte de la fuerza laboral aquí en Maine”.

The immigration enforcement dispute and the Senate politics were intertwined with a separate, high-profile standoff between Trump and Mills over transgender athletes, with multiple outlets quoting the same exchange.

“"We'll see you in court," said the Maine governor to Donald Trump at the end of a tense exchange on Friday, February 21, about the decree signed by the president excluding transgender athletes from women's teams”

BFM

Radio-Canada describes a tense exchange Friday at the White House, saying, “We'll see you in court,” as Mills responded to Trump’s remarks about a decree excluding transgender athletes from women’s teams.

Radio-Canada quotes Trump saying, “We are the federal laws. You'd better do so, or you won't receive any federal funds,” and it quotes Mills replying, “See you in court.”

The same Radio-Canada account says the decree signed in early February allows federal agencies to refuse funding to schools that allow transgender athletes to play on women’s teams.

It also reports that Maine officials said they would not change their policy toward transgender students and that Mills, “avec the state attorney general,” promised to challenge in court any cut in federal funds, citing the Portland Press Herald.

Le Matin similarly recounts the exchange, quoting Trump’s warning that states not complying with the directive risk losing federal subsidies and quoting Mills’s response that she would stay faithful to state laws, “even in the face of financial sanctions,” and it repeats the line “See you in court.”

BFM likewise quotes the back-and-forth, including Trump’s line “Very well, we’ll see you in court. I can’t wait. It should be very easy. And enjoy life after governorship, because I don’t think you’ll ever be reelected,” and it says the Education Department opened an investigation into the Maine Department of Education for alleged violations of the law prohibiting gender discrimination in educational facilities receiving federal subsidies.

The Senate campaign described by Fox News and the Associated Press-linked reporting shifted when Mills withdrew from the U.S. Senate bid.

PBS reports that “Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday dropped her bid for the U.S. Senate just weeks before the Democratic primary,” and it includes her statement explaining the decision: “While I have the drive and passion, commitment and experience, and above all else – the fight – to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources.”

La Jornada

PBS adds that Mills said, “That is why today I have made the incredibly difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the United States Senate.”

Bitacora.uy, citing Reuters, similarly reports that Mills “abandonó el jueves su intento de derrocar a la senadora republicana Susan Collins,” and it quotes her saying, “Si proporcionadamente tengo el impulso y la pasión, el compromiso y la experiencia y, sobre todo, la lucha, para continuar, simplemente no tengo lo único que requieren las campañas políticas: los capital financieros.”

Bitacora.uy also provides the electoral context, saying the race is one of seven contests that “jueguen un papel fundamental en las elecciones de centro de período de noviembre,” and it states that winning would be “fundamental” for Democrats to recover a majority in the chamber that Republicans “actualmente controlan por 53 a 47.”

PBS reports that Mills struggled to outshine first-time candidate Graham Platner, her opponent in the June 9 Democratic primary, and it says Platner is backed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego, and Martin Heinrich.

The New York Times adds a different lens on the withdrawal, saying even “Mainers Who Love Janet Mills Are Relieved to See Her Leave Race,” and it reports that voters who watched her “struggle to gain traction in the Democratic primary” were “largely unsurprised — and, in many cases, relieved — to see her exit.”

With Mills out, the reporting emphasizes how the Democratic nomination and the fight against Susan Collins are reshaped around Graham Platner and his backers.

“A Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, Gov”

Fox News

PBS says Mills’s withdrawal left Platner as the focus of the Democratic primary, and it states that Platner is backed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego and Martin Heinrich.

Le Matin

Bitacora.uy adds that Mills’s retreat leaves “a Graham Platner, un outsider progresista” who “recaudó 3,25 millones de dólares en las primeras seis semanas de su campaña,” and it identifies Collins as presiding the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Fox News had earlier described Platner as an oyster farmer backed by Schumer’s left flank, and it said Mills would have to survive a tough primary battle against him.

The New York Times reports that Mills’s withdrawal “left Mr. Platner, an Iraq War veteran and oyster farmer, as the presumptive Democratic nominee,” and it says the focus shifted to beating Collins in November.

The New York Times also includes age and political-identity concerns, noting that Mills is 78, Platner is 41, and Collins is 73, and it quotes Jim Gerritsen, 71, saying, “It’s time for the next generation to come in and take over.”

PBS similarly says age became an issue in the race, stating “Mills is 78, while Platner is 41. Collins is 73.”