Maine Democrat Gov. Janet Mills Refuses To Concede Crushing U.S. Senate Primary Loss To Graham Platner

The state’s two-term-limited governor is still holding out hope she can become the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate.

Despite Janet Mills losing the primary to neophyte Graham Platner by some 50 points, she’s banking on the controversy-plagued Platner to eventually decline the nomination.

Platner, 41, a Sullivan ex-Marine whose Nazi tattoo, misogynistic behavior and anti-establishment rhetoric have raised questions over his fitness for public office, nonetheless trounced Mills by winning roughly 70 percent of Tuesday’s vote.

Mills received some 20 percent of the remainder, her name appearing on the ballot despite having suspended active campaigning once she realized she couldn’t overcome Platner’s widespread appeal among party members wanting a new, younger face.

But in a post-election statement the 78-year-old Farmington native refused to acknowledge Platner’s overwhelming victory, saying she would “continue to fight with everything I have to improve the lives and livelihoods of Maine people.”

Under an obscure Maine law, Mills could still walk away as the nominee but first Platner would have to decline the nomination.

If he withdrew by 5 p.m. on July 13 he could be replaced with a nominee selected by party officials.

The law requires a successor candidate be chosen no later than 5 p.m. on July 27.

Though largely theoretical, it could happen if Platner were to decide that his growing scandals demand he sacrifice himself for the good of the party, lest it lose in November to entrenched five-term GOP U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

Platner’s withdrawing didn’t seem likely given his undeniable margin of victory but Mills is refusing to honor his achievement in hopes she can still extend her hold on Democrat politics in Maine, where she has been in public office nearly a half-century.