Robert Sezak, the Democratic candidate in Senate District 26, has taken on the unenviable task of trying to knock off Sen. Peter Mills, the popular Republican incumbent.

Sezak is a serious candidate with serious ideas. He's got the guts to say that dealing with the state's continuing fiscal crises will mean "everybody will feel pain." He's got the right diagnosis about the state's problematic income tax -- the highest bracket "kicks in too early," he says.

And while he believes that everyone should have access to health care, he says that's a problem for the feds to tackle. "The state can't do it," he says, and we agree.

Mills, who blows into an interview trailing documents that detail his many-pointed plans, is full of ideas, energy and intelligence. He's reasonable, he wants results and he's an old hand at the Maine Senate's dynamics, which makes him effective even when he's a member of the minority party.

And one day, we hope his colleagues in the Statehouse will pay attention to, and act on, the warning he's been sounding for years: That Maine faces a huge unfunded cost for future pension payments and retiree health benefits.

While Sezak is a smart and able candidate, the people of Senate District 26 have been more than ably represented by Peter Mills, whose bid for re-election we endorse.