Mills, Janet

Janet Trafton Mills (b. 1947). An American politician and lawyer currently serving as the 75th Governor of Maine since January 2, 2019. She is the first woman to hold this position in Maine’s history. She is a Democrat.

Political Career

Mills began her career in public service as an Assistant Attorney General and later became the first woman elected as a District Attorney in New England. She served in the Maine House of Representatives from 2002 to 2009.

Attorney General

Mills served two non-consecutive terms as Maine’s Attorney General:

• January 6, 2009 – January 6, 2011
• January 7, 2013 – January 2, 2019

She was the first woman to hold the position of Attorney General in Maine.

Governorship

In 2018, Mills won the gubernatorial election, defeating Republican Shawn Moody and independent Terry Hayes. She received over 320,000 votes, the most for any governor in Maine’s history at that time. Mills was re-elected in 2022, defeating former governor Paul LePage and breaking her own record with over 373,000 votes.

Key Initiatives

As Governor, Mills has focused on several key areas:

1. Healthcare: Expanding Medicaid and working to ensure affordable, high-quality healthcare for Maine residents.
2. Economic development: Promoting job growth and strengthening Maine’s economy.
3. Education: Improving access to world-class education for Maine children.
4. Climate change: Addressing environmental concerns, including a commitment to make Maine carbon neutral by 2045.
5. COVID-19 response: Leading Maine through the global pandemic with nation-leading results in vaccination rates and low death rates.

Personal Life

Mills was born in Farmington, Maine, and attended the University of Massachusetts Boston for her undergraduate degree and the University of Maine for her law degree. In 1985, she married Stanley Kuklinski, who passed away in 2014. Mills is a grandmother to five grandchildren