Janet Mills

On January 2, 2019, Governor Janet Mills was sworn in as the 75th governor of Maine. She became Maine’s first-ever female governor and earned the most votes for governor in Maine’s history.

Gov. Mills was born and raised in Farmington, Maine, the place she still calls home today. Growing up, she delivered newspapers along a local route and worked the evening shift at a nearby diner. After graduating from Mt. Blue High School, she attended the University of Massachusetts at Boston and the University of Maine School of Law. After law school, Gov. Mills served as an Assistant Attorney General, prosecuting major crimes, such as homicide. She was then elected as District Attorney for Adroscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford Counties, making her New England first elected District Attorney. After years of frustration over legislative inaction in helping domestic violence survivors, Gov. Mills co-founded the Maine Women’s Lobby to advocate on behalf of abused women.

Fighting for Maine Families

In 2002, Gov. Mills was elected to the Maine House of Representatives where she served for four terms and sat on the Judiciary, Appropriations, and Criminal Justice committees. In 2010, Gov. Mills was elected by the Maine State Legislature to be the 55th Attorney General of Maine; Gov. Mills was the first woman to hold this position. As Attorney General, she fought hard to hold criminals accountable and to get justice for the people of Maine.

On January 3, 2019, her first day in office, Gov. Mills signed an executive order to expand Medicaid to tens-of-thousands of people in Maine. Gov. Mills has also worked to move forward policies in areas such as gun reform, workers compensation, and paid leave.

Gov. Mills and her late husband Stan raised five daughters in Farmington. Gov. Mills has three grandsons and two granddaughters.