缅因州长米尔斯宣布竞选联邦参议员：挑战连任近30年的柯林斯
据缅因州波特兰98.9 WCLZ报道，缅因州州长珍妮特·米尔斯（Janet Mills）10月23日正式启动竞选联邦参议员的活动，加入民主党初选，目标是在明年的选举中挑战共和党现任参议员苏珊·柯林斯（Susan Collins）。柯林斯自1997年起担任这一席位，至今已近30年。米尔斯此前曾表示将在11月前作出决定，上周多家媒体已预告她将于本周宣布参选。
米尔斯现年77岁。若当选，她将成为美国历史上就任时年龄最大的“新人”联邦参议员。自今年1月以来，她多次与特朗普政府公开交锋，此次把竞选定位为对白宫的制衡。民主党全国层面长期游说她出马——民主党人把缅因州这个席位视为明年为数不多的翻转机会之一，意在撼动共和党目前53席的参议院多数。
民主党初选阵容已相当拥挤，包括牡蛎养殖户兼退伍军人格雷厄姆·普拉特纳（Graham Platner）、前国会幕僚乔丹·伍德（Jordan Wood）。本周二，另一位民主党参选人、缅因啤酒公司联合创始人丹·克莱本（Dan Kleben）宣布退选并背书米尔斯。
米尔斯因任期限制无法再选州长。她曾在2018年和2022年两度当选州长，2022年击败了卷土重来的前共和党州长保罗·勒佩奇（Paul LePage）。宣布参选后，米尔斯定于周二晚在波特兰的南缅因大学 Hannaford Hall 出席一场关于捍卫法治的公共论坛，与多位缅因州律师同台发言。柯林斯阵营尚未就米尔斯参选发表回应。
来源：GSM·美国
Maine Governor Janet Mills Announces U.S. Senate Run, Challenging Susan Collins
Maine Governor Janet Mills officially kicked off her campaign for the U.S. Senate on October 23, joining a crowded Democratic primary field vying to challenge Republican Senator Susan Collins in next year's election, according to Portland, Maine's 98.9 WCLZ. Collins has held the seat since 1997, nearly three decades. Mills had initially said she would make a decision by November, before news sources reported last week that she would announce her run this week.
Mills, 77, would be the oldest freshman senator ever if elected. She has sparred with President Donald Trump's administration since January and is framing her run as an effort to check the White House. National Democrats have long tried to recruit Mills, seeing the Maine race as one of their few opportunities to flip a Senate seat and chip away at the Republicans' 53-seat majority next year.
The Democratic field also includes oysterman and veteran Graham Platner and former congressional staffer Jordan Wood. On Tuesday, another Democrat in the race, Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleben, dropped out and endorsed Mills.
Mills is term-limited as governor, having been elected twice, in 2018 and 2022; she defeated former Republican Governor Paul LePage for her second term. After announcing, Mills was scheduled to speak alongside Maine lawyers at a public forum on Tuesday night on standing up for the rule of law, at the University of Southern Maine's Hannaford Hall in Portland. The Collins campaign had not yet responded to Mills's announcement.
Source: GSM · America
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：缅因州州长珍妮特·米尔斯（资料图）。照片：美国国际贸易管理局（International Trade Administration），公有领域，取自 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: Maine Governor Janet Mills (file photo). Photo: International Trade Administration, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
