OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
12:14 PM – Thursday, July 9, 2026
Dr. Nirav Shah, the former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, officially launched a campaign for the U.S. Senate on Thursday morning. Shah is running to step in as the Democrat nominee and replace Graham Platner on the November ballot to challenge Senator Susan Collins.
The decision follows a dramatic week in Maine politics, coming just one day after the former Democrat nominee, Platner, suspended his campaign amid allegations of sexual assault and physicality from multiple women.
Under Maine state law, the state’s Democrat Party has until July 27th to formally select a replacement candidate to challenge longtime Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is seeking a sixth term in Washington.
Shah, who recently placed first in the initial round of the state’s Democrat gubernatorial primary before losing in a ranked-choice runoff to Hannah Pingree, announced his Senate bid alongside a newly minted “Defeat Susan Collins Town Hall Tour.”
He enters the scrambled race with an existing statewide campaign infrastructure that can be quickly pivoted toward the federal contest. Positioned as an outsider, Shah says he is looking to “unite the progressive base” that originally backed Platner while offering a “recognizable face to voters who came to know” him during his time steering Maine through the COVID-19 pandemic.
He boasts previously executing one of the fastest mRNA vaccine rollouts nationwide. When he stepped down in 2023, Governor Janet Mills (D-Maine) credited his early focus on procuring personal protective equipment (PPE) and “driving equitable vaccine distribution.” However, political opponents have also pointed to his previous role leading the Illinois Department of Public Health, where he faced ongoing legislative scrutiny and calls to resign over a deadly 2015 Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at a state veterans’ home.
In a formal statement released Thursday morning, Shah wasted no time comparing the political establishment and the incumbent GOP senator.
“Establishment politicians have failed us. Maine deserves a fighter in this seat, and I will be that fighter,” Shah said. “Today I am excited to announce my candidacy for the United States Senate to defeat Susan Collins. For too long, Susan Collins has upheld a corrupt system that hurts Mainers.”
“This campaign represents the Maine values we all care about: building a state and country where everyone can get ahead, not just the privileged few, respecting and loving our neighbors, and holding Donald Trump and Susan Collins accountable,” Shah added.
As the Maine Democrat party now prepares for an expected in-person selection process later this month, Shah argued that his past experience will be an asset for the upcoming general election.
“This race is not about one person or one seat. It is about everyday Mainers. I’ve shown up and fought for you before, and I am ready to do it again as your next United States Senator,” he continued.
Shah is expected to face a competitive internal selection process against other prominent Maine Democrats who are also considering the bid before the late-July statutory deadline.
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