Supporters of U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner hit back at Gov. Janet Mills on Tuesday after her campaign launched an attack ad in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

Mills’ ad focuses on comments Platner posted online in 2013 blaming victims for being sexually assaulted. Platner apologized again this week for the comments, which were deleted before he ran for Senate, and said they no longer reflect his beliefs.

At a press conference Tuesday in response to the ad, Rep. Valli Geiger, D-Rockland, a Platner supporter, accused Mills of vetoing a measure Geiger sponsored two years ago that would have funded improvements to how evidence in sexual assault cases is tracked.

“All of the male Republicans voted against it (in committee),” Geiger said. “It did pass the House and Senate, and miraculously received funding from the appropriations committee. Sadly, the governor vetoed my bill.”

But Mills never issued a formal veto of that individual bill. Instead, it was one of nearly three dozen spending bills caught up in a constitutional dispute between Mills and Democratic leaders.

Earlier this year, Mills included the funding in her supplemental budget proposal.

The issue of funding for sexual assault investigations is resurfacing amid the Senate Democratic primary between Mills and Platner, the 41-year-old combat veteran and oyster farmer from Sullivan. The spat highlights how each campaign is battling for the support of women.

But the bill at the center of the controversy has a complex backstory.

Geiger’s 2024 measure was one of 35 bills that were sent to Mills on what is known as “veto day.” That day is typically when lawmakers return after they have adjourned for the year to take action on any bills vetoed by the governor. Normally, lawmakers don’t take up extensive legislative business.

But that year, legislative leaders forced a confrontation with Mills, sending her dozens of bills in what the governor’s office called a legally dubious maneuver.

Mills took no action on the bills because she believed doing so would violate the constitution and set a bad precedent. Failure to sign or veto a bill at the end of a session is known as a “pocket veto.”

“Signing any of these bills, no matter how much I may see value in some of them, would send the message that the Legislature is allowed to flout its own self-imposed and Constitutionally-imposed limitations,” Mills said in a letter to lawmakers.

At the time, Geiger seemed to sympathize with Mills’ decision not to take action on the bills.

“She shouldn’t have had to make that kind of decision. The Senate and the House failed to do the work as it’s usually done,” Geiger told WGME news.

Earlier this year, Mills included in her supplemental budget about $267,000 for the Department of Public Safety to establish, operate and maintain a tracking system for completed forensic sexual assault kits. The funding is consistent with a pending bill sponsored by Sen. Jill Duson, D-Portland, the governor’s office said.

Geiger credited Platner with pressuring Mills to include the funding in this year’s budget by speaking in support of the money at a January town hall event held in South Portland. At that event, he urged his supporters to contact the governor and state lawmakers.

A Mills campaign spokesperson disputed that version of events, criticizing Platner for his past comments on sexual assault.

“First, Graham Platner minimized sexual assault and blamed survivors of rape,” said Tommy Garcia, a spokesperson Mills’ Senate Campaign, in a statement. “Then, he attempted to cover up those comments by deleting them right before he launched his campaign. Now, he is spreading lies and misinformation about Governor Mills’ record.”

Geiger said Wednesday she’s grateful that Mills included the funding in this year’s budget, but she said it should have happened sooner.

“She had the option to put it in her budget each year for the next two years,” Geiger said. “She (chose) not to.”