Maine

Chuck Schumer may hope Maine Gov. Janet Mills wins the Democratic nomination to run against Susan Collins next fall, but Mills is still starting off by keeping her distance from him.

If Mills makes it to the Senate by navigating a tough primary and then beating Collins, she says Schumer will need to prove he’s worth her support to remain Democratic leader.

“Nobody in the state of Maine has asked me about Chuck Schumer. And I’ve actually met with him only once in my life, seven or eight months ago. And I’ve made no promises, no commitments, to anybody running for leadership,” Mills told Semafor in an interview.

“My vote is not guaranteed to Senator Schumer or anybody else; they’ll have to earn it,” she added.

The two-term governor’s decision to run for the Senate seat will no doubt cheer Schumer — and it instantly makes Maine’s campaign into one of the most important in the nation. First Mills will test whether Democrats have changed their electability calculus by taking on a crowded primary field, including 40-year-old oysterman Graham Platner, who opposes Schumer as leader.