US EditionJanet Mills Happens to Be a Lot Younger than Bernie Sanders
Older candidates in Maine, North Carolina, and Ohio highlight Democrats’ struggle to balance experience with calls for younger leadership to regain Senate control.
- On Tuesday, Maine Governor Janet Mills launched a Senate campaign, prompting two major handicappers to reclassify the Maine contest as a toss-up after Joe Biden's withdrawal.
- The party's 2026 map features Democratic candidates in three key 2026 battlegrounds, including Sherrod Brown, former U.S. senator , and Roy Cooper, former North Carolina governor.
- Voter patterns show that Maine has the oldest state population and higher older voter turnout, while Mills would set a record as the oldest freshman senator and pledged one Senate term.
- The developments leave Democrats torn as the three elder candidates put the party between generational change and the urgent need for net gains to win a Senate majority.
- Advocates say generational change is beginning, increasing pressure on the party to back newer leaders, while campaign aides and supporters say they will not run on age and cite younger contenders like Graham as proof voters judge energy in person.
33 Articles
33 Articles
The Press of Atlantic City
Janet Mills happens to be a lot younger than Bernie Sanders
So Democrat Janet Mills, governor of Maine, is running against Susan Collins, the state's Republican senator since 1997. An established political figure would be running against another established political figure. Yet the current reportage for Mills tends to start off…
Froma Harrop: Mills happens to be a lot younger than Sanders
So Democrat Janet Mills, governor of Maine, is running against Susan Collins, the state’s Republican senator since 1997. An established political figure would be running against another established political figure, yet the current reportage for Mills tends to start off…
Janet Mills would be oldest freshman senator ever
Janet Mills in 2022. Photo by Robert F. Bukaty of the Associated Press.This story was produced as part of a partnership with NOTUS and the nonprofit, nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute. The launch this week of 77-year-old Janet Mills’ Senate campaign in Maine reignites a debate about age among Democrats, who have spent the year arguing that the party, still reeling from Joe Biden’s age-related withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race,…
Democrats’ Senate Majority Hopes Hang on Three Candidates Older Than 65
The launch this week of 77-year-old Janet Mills’ Senate campaign in Maine reignites a debate about age among Democrats, who have spent the year arguing that the party, still reeling from Joe Biden’s age-related withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race, must move on to a new generation of younger leaders.Maine is not the only state next year where the party faces this issue.In three key 2026 Senate battlegrounds, Democrats are running older can…
Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ bid for Senate reignites Democrats’ age debate
In many ways, Janet Mills is the ideal Democratic recruit to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a fifth-term moderate with a track record of beating well-funded challengers. Mills is a two-term governor with a history of outperforming her party and a record of pushing back against President Donald Trump.
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