Your Vote 2026

Wood leaves a Democratic Senate primary dominated by Gov. Janet Mills and oyster farmer Graham Platner. His decision follows last week's announcement by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden that he won't seek reelection.

Jared Golden made the announcement in a lengthy column published in the Bangor Daily News in which he lamented the increasing hostility in the nation's politics and threats against him and his family.

The poll shows that 58% of likely Democratic primary voters favor Platner. Janet Mills, Maine's two-term governor, who was recruited by national party leaders, was polling at just 24%. None of the other candidates in the crowded field received more than 1%.

For nearly two months, Graham Platner’s bid for the U.S. Senate was marked by momentum and bravado as the political newcomer drew big crowds to his town halls and he channeled Democratic voters’ hopes for a newer, brasher kind of candidate. During an interview in late September, he said, “I’ll just say, it’s been very surreal.” Reality has arrived over the past week. Now comes a test of Democratic primary voters' risk aversion.

Platner says he didn't know about the Nazi affiliation when he got the tattoo as an 18-year-old rifleman in the Marines.

Shah, who lives in Brunswick, was the public face of Maine's response to the COVID pandemic and also held the second-highest position at the U.S. CDC for two years until President Donald Trump regained office.

Gov. Janet Mills ended months of speculation this week by officially entering the Democratic primary to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins next fall.

Mills was reportedly recruited by Democratic Senate leaders after her high-profile confrontation with President Donald Trump in February, in which she told the president she'd "see you in court."

At his campaign launch in Belfast, Bush referred to himself as “a disrupter” and promised to bring economic development to the state by reducing taxes and clearing regulations for more housing development.

Dunlap's campaign launch is trying to tap Democrats' frustration with Golden's approach to President Donald Trump.