PORTLAND, Maine — It was not a campaign event, and she was not even the chief speaker, but a Tuesday forum on the “rule of law” gave Gov. Janet Mills her first chance to speak to a crowd since she announced her U.S. Senate campaign earlier in the day.

The discussion took on added interest and media attention after the Democratic governor eschewed on-the-ground campaign events Tuesday and instead used a two-minute video to announce her long-anticipated effort to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Her roughly 10-minute-long opening remarks at the evening forum were a speech that the governor could give anytime as a former district attorney and attorney general, but Mills drew applause and laughter by closing with a nod to her February confrontation with President Donald Trump , an

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