Democratic candidate Graham Platner’s campaign told donors this week that the general election in Maine has already begun, effectively declaring an early victory over his establishment-backed primary opponent, Gov. Janet Mills.

The message follows another signal in how the race is trending, with a Republican super PAC beginning to target his campaign with new ads meant to boost Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent.

The campaign’s memo, sent to donors and obtained by NOTUS, says the GOP’s ads and Mills’ own absence from the airwaves the last two weeks are proof that Platner will be Democrats’ nominee this fall, even if the state’s primary is still six weeks away.

“If this spending is any indication, the general election has effectively begun,” the memo said. “Graham Platner is clearly the front-runner in the primary and strongest candidate to take on Senator Susan Collins, and national Republicans are responding accordingly.”

It’s not the first time Platner has said he is pivoting to the general election, before he even faces Mills in the June 9 primary. And his campaign is still mentioning her by name in some instances, suggesting it is still keeping at least one eye on its primary rival.

But increasingly, other Democrats are starting to agree with Platner’s view of the primary, arguing that Mills, a two-term governor recruited by Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, stands little chance of winning next month.

“It looks to me like Graham Platner is formidably ahead … his lead is 20 points, 30 points, something like that?” Sen. Tina Smith told NOTUS when asked this week about the race.

“Obviously, she has an uphill battle ahead,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen said.

Another Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to speak freely, went further by arguing that it’s time for their party to pull the plug on Mills and coalesce around Platner.

“We should be focused on beating Susan Collins, not on beating up other Democrats. It’s time,” the senator told NOTUS.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, one of two Senate Democrats backing Mills, disagreed, insisting that the governor still has a shot in the race.

“Maine is very hard, but let me just say this, she has proven herself time and time again,” Cortez Masto said of Mills. “Mainers like her, she’s got a proven record of fighting for Maine on so many issues, and she’d be a great U.S. senator.”

The Mills campaign, in a statement, said that the governor remains “the best candidate to take on Susan Collins in November.”

“Republicans are eager to exploit Platner’s long, long list of vulnerabilities,” said Tommy Garcia, a Mills spokesperson. “Governor Mills will continue to make that case to voters as she criss-crosses the state on her campaign, talking about her record of accomplishments and vision for the future, all while delivering progress as Governor and defending our state against attacks from this administration.”

Some of the governor’s supporters remain optimistic, noting that she is continuing to hold campaign events and that she has been counted out before in her political career.

But some of them also privately acknowledge mounting concerns about the state of her campaign, especially after a long-promised negative-ad blitz last month against Platner — focused on his history of online comments — appeared to do little to dent his standing in the race.

Polls of the race have found the political newcomer, a military veteran and oyster farmer, maintaining a sizable lead.

But most alarming to some Mills supporters is that the governor has stopped running campaign ads for almost the last three weeks.

Mills’ own campaign has spent less than $10,000 on ads since April 12, according to data from AdImpact, effectively going dark on air for more than two weeks at a time in the campaign when most allies concede she needs to start staging a comeback.

Platner has spent about $1 million in the same time period. Ads from his campaign running this week largely focus on Collins instead of Mills. And they come as a Collins-aligned super PAC, Pine Tree Results, started running ads against Platner this week.

In its memo to donors, Platner’s campaign said the super PAC’s decision to run ads in April was ahead of its previously announced timeline, proof that it viewed the Democratic candidate as a “serious threat.”

Collins has also pivoted to the general election. Last week, the senator responded to negative ads from Schumer-aligned groups by referencing the chest tattoo Platner covered up after it was identified last year as a Nazi symbol.

“Chuck is trying to cover up [Democrats’] bad ideas by attacking others,” Collins said of Schumer at the Maine Republican Party convention in Augusta. “You know, when I think about it, his approach is like trying to cover up an outrageous tattoo. You can paint over it, but we all know what’s underneath.”