Graham Platner’s path to Capitol Hill became clearer Thursday as Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the race for U.S. Senate.

The Sullivan oysterman and veteran had prescheduled public appearances throughout the day — culminating at a Lewiston town hall alongside gubernatorial candidate Shenna Bellows — that ended up serving as something of a victory lap for the progressive and his supporters.

While Platner has held a clear lead over Mills in Democratic primary polling over the past few months, she is now firmly in the rearview mirror — and he’s turning his attention to November and Sen. Susan Collins.

“The race has never been about me or really about one person,” Platner said at a news conference in Augusta late Thursday morning. “It’s about a movement of working Mainers who are fed up with being robbed by billionaires and the politicians who own them.

“We are now taking back our power. That is what this campaign is.”

A head-to-head general election race between Platner and Collins now appears to be all but certain. Brunswick Democrat David Costello remains in the primary race, his campaign confirmed, but he has long trailed Mills and Platner significantly in both polling and fundraising.

And with Mills out of the race, Platner is backing out of all five planned Democratic Senate primary debates, his campaign confirmed.

Even as he turns his eyes to the general election, Platner thanked Mills for her years of service to the state.

“We both got into this race because we knew how critical it is to defeat Susan Collins,” Platner said of the governor. “Her decision today reflects a commitment to that project.”

Many of Platner’s high-profile supporters gave him a pat on the back Thursday.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a progressive independent who was early to endorse Platner, posted a statement on social media congratulating him: “Americans are tired of status quo politics. They want REAL change and that’s what Graham will deliver.”

Meanwhile, some members of the Democratic Party who had yet to back Platner came out of the woodwork to endorse him.

In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand praised Mills for her campaign efforts and her service to Maine — and declared that they will work with the “presumptive nominee,” Platner, to regain a majority in the Senate.

“Democrats are dedicated to fighting back against the chaos of the Trump administration by defeating the Republicans who enable his harmful agenda and that includes Susan Collins,” they said.

Many other Democrats — both current elected officials and hopefuls seeking office — also congratulated Platner and declared him the presumptive nominee. But notably, Mills did not immediately endorse her now-former primary opponent.

“Governor Mills has never voted for Susan Collins, and she will not do so in this election either,” a Mills campaign spokesperson said in a statement in response to questions about whether she would back Platner.

“As Maine’s Governor, she will continue to support Democratic candidates across Maine, and she will continue to hear and watch how Graham Platner works to earn the support of Maine voters, just as she will keep a close eye on Maine’s Congressional and Gubernatorial primaries as well,” the spokesperson added.

On the other side of the aisle, Republicans took Thursday as an opportunity to take aim at both Mills and Platner, casting the former as an out-of-touch career politician rejected by voters and the latter as an extremist who is unfit to represent Mainers.

The chair of the Maine Republican Party, Jim Deyermond, said Collins “represents all Mainers and cares deeply for our state,” while declaring that Platner is “more concerned about promoting his dangerous ideologies than serving the hardworking people of Maine.”

For her part, Collins thanked Mills for her years of service but declined to speak to a CNN reporter about Platner or the November election.

“This is the governor’s day, and I think the focus should be on her and her wanting to give her message to the people of Maine,” she said.

Staff Writers Randy Billings, Rachel Ohm, Abigail Pritchard and Morgan Womack contributed to this story.