The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report shifted its rating of the Maine Senate race from “lean Republican” to “toss up” after Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) launched her bid Tuesday to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). “For the first time since she was elected in 1996, Collins could face off against a sitting statewide officeholder who, like her, has a proven track record of outperforming the presidential ticket of her party,” Cook Political Report editor-in-chief and publisher Amy Walter wrote in an analysis on Tuesday.

“Mills, of course, does not have a clear path to the nomination, and there is no guarantee that she will win it. But she is a top-tier recruit in a field that currently lacks a well-known or well-established candidate,” she continued. “And while Collins

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