AUGUSTA – Democrats who figured they wouldn’t have state Sen. Peter Mills to kick around anymore had better think again.

Although the Republican moderate lost the GOP nomination for governor Tuesday to state Sen. Chandler Woodcock of Farmington, Mills may not have to relinquish his District 26 Senate seat.

The Cornville lawyer was well aware that Maine law precluded his running for governor and senator at the same time. But he also knew that the party’s official candidate for Senate District 26 was what political insiders refer to as a “placeholder” – a candidate who exists only on paper and who will step aside to allow members of the party’s county committee to select a replacement.

Mills confirmed Thursday that he plans to ask Somerset County’s Republican leaders to designate him as the party’s substitute for Maitland Richardson, 76, of Skowhegan.

“I plan to contact Maitland to tell him that, pending his letter of withdrawal, I intend to run,” Mills said. “I think the Maine Senate’s Republican caucus is going to look fairly strong. I don’t know if we will attain the majority, but whether we do or not, the composition of that caucus will be interesting.”

Departing from the current group of Senate Republicans, either by choice or as the result of Maine’s term limits law, are some of the party’s more conservative members, including Sens. Paul Davis of Sangerville, Dean Clukey of Houlton, and Woodcock.

Joining moderate GOP members such as Sens. Dana Dow of Waldoboro, Karl Turner of Windham and Richard Rosen of Bucksport are potential new Republican faces that Mills said should enhance the current level of debate. Among them is Frank Farrington of Bangor, a Republican who reportedly is working hard to unseat Democratic incumbent Joe Perry of Bangor for Senate District 32, which encompasses Bangor and part of Hermon.

“If I was 6-foot-4 and had a voice like Frank Farrington’s, I would have been nominated for governor on Tuesday,” Mills said. “But seriously, I think the Senate is going to be a significant repository of issue-focused talent next year.”

Mills, who ran for the GOP gubernatorial nomination as a publicly funded candidate, said he again would apply for certification under the Maine Clean Elections Act as a state senator seeking re-election.

With six terms in the House and Senate, Mills would face Paul Hatch of Skowhegan, a former Democratic state representative, in the November election.