WESTBROOK, Maine – Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday finally endorsed fellow Democrat Troy Jackson in his race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, her first public show of support for the former Maine Senate president, with whom she clashed when Jackson led the chamber.
“I encourage Maine people to vote for Democrats up and down the ballot who will stand up for our values and stand up to Trump,” Mills wrote on X, indicating that she had voted for Jackson at her early voting site on Thursday.
Mills, who ran for Senate herself before dropping out this spring, had been notably silent since Jackson earned the Democratic nomination following the collapse of Graham Platner’s campaign.
Last month, Mills spokesperson Ben Goodman told MS NOW that Jackson had not contacted the governor about an endorsement but that she “would welcome a conversation” with him.
On Thursday, though, it was revealed that behind the scenes there had been a last-ditch effort between the two camps to unite Jackson and Mills.
Jackson told MS NOW at a press briefing in Westbrook Thursday morning that he had recently left a voice message for Mills but hadn’t heard back.
A person close to the governor, who was not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed that Jackson left the message seeking Mills’ endorsement shortly after his final, testy debate with Collins on Oct. 15. But Mills was about to depart on a trade mission to Ireland, which took her out of the country for several days. The day of the voicemail, aides for Mills and Jackson connected about getting them together to discuss an endorsement after Mills returned, the person close to Mills said.
But that meeting never happened.
When Mills’ team followed up this week, Jackson’s campaign “indicated an endorsement from her didn’t fit into their schedule for the final stretch,” the person said.
A Jackson spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry about that version of events.
On Thursday, before Mills posted her support, Jackson argued the lack of an endorsement from the governor was not an essential factor in his race, which polls suggest is razor-thin just five days out.
“Look, this race is not about me and Janet or anything like that,” he told MS NOW. “This race is about people that don’t have health care, people that don’t know how to fill their oil tanks, people that don’t know how to get their prescription drugs.”
“I’m not really sure, like, with the governor — I don’t take it personally or anything like that. I mean, Angus King didn’t endorse me either,” Jackson added, referring to Maine’s independent senator, who has historically not endorsed Collins’ opponents.
Jackson has not been shy about his rocky relationship with Mills.
“We obviously disagreed a lot — it’s no secret,” he said in April. “I mean, the governor vetoed more than 40 of my bills.”
CORRECTION (Oct. 29, 2026, 9:15 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article inaccurately depicted a piece of the timeline of the communication between aides for Jackson and Mills. Originally, the person close to the governor said an aide for Mills attempted to make contact after the governor returned from a trade mission and got no response. The person now says aides for both Jackson and Mills spoke on the day Jackson left the message in an attempt to setup a meeting between the two.
The post Maine Gov. Janet Mills issues muted endorsement of Troy Jackson — after last-minute effort to lock arms fell through appeared first on MS NOW.
This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 28 episode of “The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi.”
On Wednesday evening, just days before the midterms, we saw a split screen of the politics of the past and the politics of the present.
In Ohio, President Donald Trump once again gave an ugly and rambling speech, repeating racist remarks about Muslim politicians and calling for the prosecution of others, while stumping for and defending a candidate who refuses to apologize for an attack ad that exploited his opponent’s experience as a child rape victim.
Meanwhile, in Georgia, former President Barack Obama returned to the campaign trail to deliver one of his trademark speeches, designed to energize voters and to reinforce their beliefs in small-d democratic values.
Obama’s remarks also served as a scathing rebuke of the current president and his politics of grievance, making the case that the country needs to “rediscover our North Star:”
We also need to rediscover what’s best in us, because if we don’t return to some of those mighty precious values Dr. King was talking about, we will continue to fester in anger and division. And I don’t know about you, but I am tired of being angry, and I’m tired of being divided. I want friendship and neighborliness and joy and generosity. I want everybody rolling up their sleeves in the common enterprise of rebuilding America. I want everybody handing our country and our world off to our kids a little better than they are right now. That’s what I want. That’s what you want.
Obama’s re-emergence might stir up bittersweet feelings for some of us who preferred a time when the nation was not led by an administration that had practiced deliberate cruelty and exploited Americans’ differences for personal and political gain.
For many of us, the former president is still a reminder of a more decent time in America: when the people running the federal government believed that it should serve the people; when America’s standing in the world was unrivaled; when our allies could trust us and we did not bow down to autocratic regimes or cozy up to war criminals.
Obama’s return to the campaign trail and his continued ability to galvanize voters by reminding them of the values that truly make this country great does not have to be bittersweet. It can be a reminder of who we are. It can be an incentive to fight to reset the moral compass of our nation, to rebuild the institutions that Trump and his band of billionaire oligarchs have been dismantling, and to repair the alliances that keep America safe, secure and prosperous.
The Obama era was not a century ago. Believe it or not, it ended less than 10 years ago. Obama’s still here. You’re still here.
In this moment, I’m reminded of a conversation I had a few days after the 2024 presidential election with Timothy Snyder, a distinguished history professor. At that point, the presidential race had been called for Trump, and half of the country was reckoning with the idea of his vengeful return to the White House.
But back then, Snyder had this advice for anyone who was feeling hopeless: While the circumstances around you might change, you don’t have to change with it. More than that, you have the choice to resist the changes this administration tries to impose on you, your country and your values.
“Freedom means you decide who you are,” he said. “And when things change around you, you continue to be that person.” Snyder’s words continue to resonate, and two years later, in the run-up to these crucial midterms, he has another reminder for us.
In a new piece on his Substack, “Thinking About,” the historian identified myriad things that could cause Americans to be disheartened right now but, in typical Tim Snyder fashion, he lands on six words that encapsulate all that needs to happen in the next six days: “All of this can be solved.”
We still have agency. We still have the vote. More than 42 million people have already cast a ballot in this year’s elections, surpassing the early-voter turnout for the 2018 midterms. At this rate, there’s a good chance that it will surpass the early-voter turnout for the 2022 midterms.
And that, according to Snyder, is how all of this can be solved.
“Only a government can act to resolve this problem, but it has to be a government animated by people who care about freedom,” he wrote. “Government animated by liberty can break up monopolies, government can tax centibillionaires, government can regulate media and social media platforms. All of this can be solved.”
Snyder argues that a better future is still possible, even as powerful figures attempt to push the country toward a darker one: “A better future, a far better future, can replace the dystopias for which our oligarchs now so openly long. To get there, we will have to exercise the very rights that they now so openly hate.”
Allison Detzel contributed.
The post America can find its way back to its values. The midterms are the first step. appeared first on MS NOW.
Sir Patrick Stewart, a preeminent British actor whose career spanned theater, films and television and who achieved his greatest fame portraying Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles after a brief battle with Alzheimer’s and Lewy Body Dementia, representatives for Stewart said in a statement Thursday. He was 86.
“His sonorous voice and singular talent will forever be synonymous with indelible performances in every genre,” the statement said.
In a career spanning more than 60 years, Stewart, who also portrayed Professor Charles Xavier in the Marvel “X-Men” film franchise, won or was nominated for multiple theater and film awards.
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010.
“He explored the human condition in all its poetic complexity and brought hope not only to the far reaches of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but into science fiction’s most iconic final frontier aboard the Starship Enterprise,” the statement said.
Stewart was born in the town of Mirfield in Yorkshire, England. Prior to his prolific on-screen career, Stewart got his start on stage in the 1960s as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Days before Stewart’s death, fellow Star Trek actor Walter Koenig, who starred as Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original series, also died at the age of 90.
Tributes to the late great actor poured in Thursday evening. William Shatner, who played alongside Stewart as Captain Kirk in the original “Star Trek” series, called it “a heartbreaking week.”
“Sir Patrick Stewart was a friend, a colleague, and a magnificent actor. From the stage to the bridge of the Enterprise, he brought intelligence, grace, and a deep sense of humanity to everything he did,” Shatner said in a social media post. “Captain Picard stood for the best of us, and so did the man who played him. I was filled with affection and admiration for him and his work.”
Hugh Jackman shared a photo of himself with his “X-Men” co-star on Instagram.
“We lost one of the greats of stage and screen today. And, in my book, a tremendous friend and man,” Jackman, who plays Wolverine, said. “I learned so much from him. I will miss you, Patrick Stewart, all of my days.”
Marvel Studios said in a statement that it is “deeply saddened” by Stewart’s passing.
“He was a singular talent, a generous collaborator, and a true gentleman,” the statement said. “Our hearts go out to his wife Sunny, his children, his friends, and the countless fans around the world whose lives he touched with his art.”
The post Patrick Stewart, Captain Picard in TV’s ‘Star Trek,’ dies at 86 appeared first on MS NOW.
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Patterson showed no emotion on the video feed as McLeish outlined why her appeal had failed, and how the director of public prosecutions had succeeded in seeking a longer sentence.
Patterson’s actions mean it is ‘inappropriate’ to fix non-parole period, justice says
The applicant’s murderous intent dated back to the invitations to lunch, it persisted through the lunch that the poison was administered …
We have concluded that the case involved such calculated criminality that it is inappropriate to fix a non-parole period.
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An ‘Antisemitism is racism’ motion was passed at a council meeting last Tuesday
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