Janet Mills Says She Opposes Eliminating The Filibuster

Maine Gov. Janet Mills said Thursday she supports keeping the filibuster in place, breaking with most members of the Senate Democratic Caucus she hopes to join as she launches a campaign to oust GOP Sen. Susan Collins, herself a staunch defender of the Senate’s 60-vote requirement.

“I would certainly want to retain the filibuster,” Mills said, according to the Bangor Daily News. Mills made the comments while talking to reporters after accepting the endorsement of Dan Kleban, the co-founder of Maine Beer Co. who had been running for the Democratic nomination before Mills’ entrance into the race.

Mills’ comments came on her third day in the race, which is one of the biggest in the country this year. The Democratic primary is set to be a clash between her and Graham Platner, a progressive oysterman. The winner will then have to face Collins, the only Republican senator from a state won by Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.

In her remarks, the 77-year-old Mills also appeared to mix up the status of the filibuster, suggesting retaining it could give senators a say over judges. The filibuster has not been in use for judicial nominations for over a decade.

“When it comes to Trump appointing 200 judges with very questionable qualifications, I would want to have a say in those judgeships, for instance,” Mills said.

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If Mills’ support for the filibuster holds and she makes it into office, her support for the 60-vote threshold could limit Democratic ambitions the same way former Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema did during President Joe Biden’s administration. Without eliminating the filibuster, Democrats would be limited to using the reconciliation process to deal with budgetary matters on a simple majority and could not pass any meaningful government reform or abortion rights legislation.

Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and Democrats face an uphill battle to retake the chamber in 2026 or even 2028. Republican dominance of rural states, which are given massive additional power due to the structure of the Senate, makes it nearly impossible for Democrats to gain sizable majorities without drastically expanding their coalition.

Eliminating or reforming the filibuster became a litmus test issue for Democrats around 2020, and most Democratic senators and candidates came to support eliminating it in order to pass either voting rights or abortion rights legislation.

Abortion rights, in particular, are expected to be a major flashpoint in any Democratic challenge to Collins, who nominally supports abortion rights but voted for two Supreme Court Justices ― Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch ― who were instrumental in striking down Roe v. Wade.

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EMILY’s List, which is backing Mills, pulled its support from Sinema in 2022 because of her opposition to filibuster reform ahead of Democratic efforts to pass voting rights legislation.

“Right now, Senator Sinema’s decision to reject the voices of allies, partners and constituents who believe the importance of voting rights outweighs that of an arcane process means she will find herself standing alone in the next election,” said the group’s then-President Laphonza Butler.

EMILY’s List did not immediately respond to a HuffPost email seeking comment.

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