Maine's organization of college Republicans has used this election as a training ground for young party members who aspire to public office. They've run a string of college students as challengers in races across the state where incumbent Democrats were unlikely to have opposition.

In doing so, they've kept a fundamental principle of Democracy alive -- no candidate should run unopposed. But that doesn't mean their candidates necessarily stand a chance.

Such is the case in Farmington, where University of Maine student Keith Mahoney is challenging long-time legislator and incumbent Janet Mills.

Not only is Mills a fixture in the western Maine landscape, she comes from the first family of that region's politics. Brother Peter is a Republican senator, sister Dora is the state's director of public health and grandfather Sumner was in the Legislature as was father S. Peter Mills Jr., who was also the state's U.S. Attorney.

We endorse Mills, who has been as effective an advocate for her region as anyone can be -- including acting against her party leadership when the issue demanded it. She's an attorney, a former prosecutor, and she understands the needs of the small businesses as well as the large institutions in her district (Franklin Memorial Hospital, the University of Maine at Farmington).

The only concern we have about Mills' candidacy is that she's also running for Maine attorney general, a position that requires a vote by the Legislature's majority party only after the November election. If she won that vote, House District 89 could find itself holding yet another election to replace Mills, which is unfortunate.

In the end, however, that seems a reasonable price to pay for the opportunity to have a candidate as qualified as Janet Mills represent the district.