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Gov. Janet Mills answers questions from members of the media after a roundtable about immigration enforcement activity in Maine on Jan. 28. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)

A personal financial disclosure filed last week by Gov. Janet Mills details more than $170,000 in stock investments.

The disclosure, which covers the 22-month period preceding her entry into the U.S. Senate race in October, comes amid a bipartisan push to ban stock trading by members of Congress.

National Democrats hammered Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins last fall for opposing a bill from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, to ban the trading.

Mills said in a written statement that she supports efforts to ban congressional stock trading, and that she would place her current investments into a blind trust if she’s elected to the Senate.

“Unlike Susan Collins, I will fully support legislation to ban Congressional stock trading,” Mills said in a written statement. “The people of Maine and America deserve to know their leaders in Congress are focused on one thing and one thing only: advancing the interests of the people they’re elected to serve — and that is exactly what they will get with me.”

All of the stocks in Collins’ 2024 financial disclosure are listed under her spouse, Thomas Daffron, a former Senate staffer who also ran a lobbying firm.

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Collins campaign spokesman Shawn Roderick said that Collins’ position is that lawmakers should only be allowed to buy and sell individual stocks in portfolios managed by an outside adviser who does not consult the congressperson.

“Senator Collins has never bought, sold, or owned any shares of stock during her entire Senate tenure,” Roderick said, noting that Collins was a co-author of the 2012 STOCK Act, which required more regular financial disclosures of congressional stock trades and imposed modest penalties for violators.

Mills’ top opponent in the Democratic primary is political newcomer Graham Platner, whose financial disclosure didn’t list any individual stocks. Platner, whose campaign is taking aim at corporate interests and “the oligarchy,” also supports a ban.

Mills filed her personal financial disclosure on Feb. 11 after receiving a 90-day extension last fall. It outlines her annual income and investments.

Mills listed nearly $192,000 in income as governor from Jan. 1, 2024, to Oct. 31, 2025, including her $60,000 expense account. The former state lawmaker, district attorney and attorney general disclosed an additional $27,000 in state pension income and another $14,000 in additional disbursements.

Her filing shows between $169,000 and $460,000 worth of stocks, more than half of which are in Microsoft. The stocks are part of an IRA, her campaign said.

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Mills also holds between $50,000 and $100,000 in stocks from Home Depot and $15,000 to $50,000 in Boston Scientific Corp. — plus less than $15,000 each in Bank of America, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Pfizer Inc. common stock.

She also lists $15,000 to $50,000 in rental income from her home in Farmington.

Mills’ disclosure shows that she is wealthier than Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer and combat veteran.

In his financial disclosure, Platner only disclosed his $3,000 annual stipend for his role as harbormaster for Sullivan, a small coastal town about 17 miles east of Ellsworth. He’s held that position since January 2024.

Platner is also the proprietor and president of the Frenchman Bay Oyster Company, where he reported the value of his equipment at between $50,000 and $100,000 and disclosed a business loan of between $15,000 and $50,000. But he did not report any income from that business.

Platner is not required to disclose his disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. But he has said he has a 100% disability rating for “a couple herniated discs,” injuries to his shoulders and knees, and post-traumatic stress disorder from his four deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he receives about $4,800 per month.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Feb. 18 to remove an unverified detail about Sen. Susan Collins’ portfolio.

Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined...

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