Scoop: Janet Mills to launch Senate bid Tuesday, per internal document

• Sen. Susan Collins' (R-Maine) seat is Democrats' top Senate pickup target in next year's midterms.
• Mills' entrance into the race is also likely to set off a divisive primary contest with progressive Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who has won the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Behind the scenes: The internal campaign message reads, "Maine Governor Janet Mills will be announcing her campaign for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, October 14."

• Axios scooped Tuesday that Mills was preparing to jump into the Senate race as soon as next week.

Zoom out: A debate over generational change has been roiling the Democratic Party since its loss in the 2024 presidential election, and a primary contest between Mills, 77, Platner, 41, and other relatively young Democrats is likely to deepen divides over age as well as ideology.

• Platner raised more than $3 million in the latest quarter, Axios first reported.

• Sanders issued a warning on Thursday on X: "Graham Platner is a great working class candidate for Senate in Maine who will defeat Susan Collins," he said.
• "It's disappointing that some Democratic leaders are urging Governor Mills to run. We need to focus on winning that seat & not waste millions on an unnecessary & divisive primary," Sanders added.

Zoom in: Brewery owner Dan Kleban and former End Citizens United vice president Jordan Wood are also running in the Democratic primary.