Augusta, Maine - Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner experienced his best fundraising week yet, collecting $1.5 million since Governor Janet Mills dropped out of the race last Thursday.
Platner's campaign revealed the astonishing number to the Portland Press Herald on Tuesday, only five days after Governor Janet Mills suspended her campaign.
The $1.5 million is half the amount that Mills managed to raise over the first three months of 2026, despite having the backing of the establishment Democratic leadership in Washington.
It was also raised exclusively through small-dollar donations from individuals across the US, as Platner does not accept large-scale contributions from private companies and lobbyist groups.
Despite this, he has managed to raise more than both Mills and incumbent GOP Senator Susan Collins.
Mills' withdrawal from the race makes Platner the presumptive Democratic nominee for Maine's Senate race come November. He will face off against Collins, who has held her seat since 1997.
"From the start of this campaign, Graham has taken on the establishment and proven that working people can compete with powerful interests," Platner's campaign manager, Ben Chin, said in a statement to the Press Herald.
"As the general begins, we're going to continue to do just that, and we're raising the resources necessary to defeat Susan Collins."
Platner vows to "take back" the Democratic party from oligarchs
Platner has positioned himself as a non-establishment, progressive Democrat who champions universal healthcare, action on climate change, and opposes both President Donald Trump's migration crackdown and war with Iran.
"We are taking back what is ours," Platner told a crowd of thousands at Maine's Democratic convention on Saturday, days after Mills dropped out.
"We are taking back a party that too often has left too many behind, that too often has answered to the very same corporations and billionaires as Republicans. We are taking back our democracy from the oligarchs."