Leaked Video: Janet Mills Attack Ad Against Graham Platner Backfires With Maine Democrats

A Zoom recording with Gov. Janet Mills captures unfiltered voter reactions to the governor’s recent attack ad against her U.S. Senate primary opponent, Graham Platner.

On March 19, Gov. Janet Mills attended the Hancock County Democrats’ monthly meeting to answer questions from prospective voters ahead of the upcoming U.S. Senate primary. Days earlier, the Mills campaign released an ad attacking her Democratic primary opponent Graham Platner over disparaging remarks he made on Reddit in 2013 about victims of rape.

Drop Site has obtained a Zoom recording of the Q&A with Mills, showing significant dissatisfaction with the attacks among voters in Platner’s home county. The negative ad—which features Democratic Party consultants—was released on March 17, as multiple polls showed Mills trailing Platner in the primary and underperforming him in general election matchups against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The recording begins with a question from a Hancock County woman concerned by the recent negative tone of the Mills campaign.

“I’m a member of the #MeToo generation, and I was offended by your ad. I’d very much like you to run a clean campaign,” the female Hancock County voter says to Mills. “Let’s have a positive campaign. I don’t think anyone should be attacking another Democrat, right before the primary, and using underhanded means and that kind of language. What you have done is wonderful. So, speak about what you have done, don’t demolish the other candidate in an underhanded way. And I’m sorry, that’s not a question, that’s a statement.”

Mills responded by saying the voters have a “right to know” what her opponent has said and done. Platner’s Reddit comments were originally released in October and have been covered extensively in the media. He has since apologized for the posts and toured the state of Maine taking questions directly from voters on the matter.

“This is about electability, pure and simple,” Mills continued. “I don’t have any Reddit posts to hide. I don’t have any tattoos, believe me. The electability issue is the issue of this primary.”

Since October 26, eight polls have been published showing head-to-head results for both Mills and Platner versus Susan Collins. In seven of the eight polls, Platner has been leading Collins, while Mills leads Collins in just one of the polls taken. In every poll, Platner significantly outperforms Mills in the general election matchup.

Voters in the meeting’s Zoom chat expressed concern over the national Democratic Party influencing the primary election. One voter asked the governor, “How do you feel about national party big money being poured into a specific candidate before the state has a chance to have their own primary, and make up their own minds?”

“I don’t know what big money you’re talking about. I don’t have the big money here. I don’t have big money from the national party. Are you kidding me?” Mills replied to the question. On the day Mills announced her Senate campaign, the DSCC formed a joint fundraising committee with her called Maine Senate Victory 2026.

As the Q&A progressed, Mills was repeatedly confronted over her campaign’s Platner attack ad. Former Ellsworth State Representative Reverend Mark Worth told the Governor her attacks were “divisive and odious,” accusing Mills of “doing Susan Collins’s work for her.” Another older male attendee asked Mills to “meet with Graham Platner” and express her concerns directly to him instead of attacking publicly, mirroring how the modern Republican party operates.

The governor responded by claiming back in October, “Graham’s very first ad was an ad against me. I didn’t go raving about it, he had a bunch of women saying I was too old or some bullshit. That was a negative ad.”

No ad from the Platner campaign currently exists matching Mills description. In August, Platner launched his run with a two-minute social media video focusing on affordability. The clip targeted billionaires and corrupt politicians profiting by driving families into poverty and crushing the middle class. There is no mention of Janet Mills in the video, who didn’t launch her campaign until October 14.