PORTLAND, Maine — Graham Platner won the Maine Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, setting up a high-stakes race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Platner, an oyster farmer and former chair of the planning board in the small town of Sullivan, has little political experience but has drawn hundreds of people to rallies around the state. He also has faced a string of controversies that have been the focus of attacks from his rivals. Yet, since entering the race, Platner has stressed the importance of believing in redemption for those like him who have made mistakes but are now working to be better people.
“If you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change,” Platner said during his acceptance speech in Blue Hill, a rural town where he was born. “And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it.”
Democrats see Maine as a top opportunity to flip a GOP-held seat. It is the only state with a competitive Senate race where voters supported Democrat Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in 2024. Collins is the only Republican senator from New England.
Platner, a progressive who had early support from Sen. Bernie Sanders, has said he plans to focus on economic issues such as housing and healthcare.
“Any of those who feel let down, or disappointed, or disillusioned, it is my job to earn your trust, faith and support, and I will spend every day of this campaign, and if I have the privilege, every day in the United States Senate doing exactly that,” Platner said.
Maine voters on Tuesday were also choosing Republican and Democratic nominees for governor in crowded contests to replace Mills. In the 2nd Congressional District, Democrats were choosing a nominee to face former Gov. Paul LePage, who is unopposed in the GOP primary. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden is stepping down, giving Republicans hope of winning back a district that President Donald Trump easily won in 2024.
The primaries involve the use of ranked choice voting, in which voters can rank the candidates on their ballot in order of preference. If no candidate breaks 50% of the popular vote, the bottom finisher is eliminated, and voters’ second choices come into play. The tabulations continue until a candidate achieves a majority of the total votes, meaning results may not be known for days.
Platner energized Democratic voters
Platner, 41, is a Marine veteran and oyster farmer who was chair of the planning board in the small town of Sullivan. He has focused his campaign on fighting the high costs he says hold down the middle class and said he got in the race to focus on income inequality.
He had early support from progressive champions like Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, helping to boost his candidacy. Senate Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer backed Mills, 78.
Platner campaigned as an outsider willing to take on billionaires and the Washington establishment, including Collins. He has drawn hundreds of people to his rallies around the state.
His background has generated criticism from both the right and the left.
Old online comments made by Platner in which he appeared to endorse political violence, dismiss rape in the military and criticize both police officers and rural America surfaced last year. Platner apologized for the comments and said he was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression when he wrote them.
He’s also faced questions about a skull-and-crossbones tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol. Platner said he got the tattoo on his chest during a night of drinking while he was on leave in Croatia. He has maintained that he was unaware until recently that the image had been associated with Nazis, and he has since covered the tattoo with a different design. A former girlfriend told New York Times has since said that he did.
More recently, he went on the defensive amid reports that he previously exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women while married. Platner hasn’t directly denied the existence of the texts but instead criticized the aide who talked to news outlets and accused the media of running gossip.
The New York Times last week reported about his relationships with previous girlfriends, some of whom viewed him positively and others who described him as volatile and insulting. One woman said Platner twisted her arm during an argument and locked her in a room. Platner’s campaign disputed the allegation.
Annette Babcock, who is from Platner’s hometown of Sullivan, said she’s met him a few times and likes that he’s not an established politician. His recent controversies didn’t dissuade her from supporting him Tuesday.
“The Republicans don’t have much moral high ground to stand on when they’re criticizing him for what he’s done when (President Donald) Trump is a convicted felon,” she said.
Collins is unopposed in the GOP Senate primary
A matchup between Platner and Collins would pit a progressive with no experience in high office against one of the most powerful legislators in the Senate, and one of its few remaining moderate Republicans.
First elected in 1996, Collins is the only Republican senator left from New England. She has said her experience and key position as chair of the powerful appropriations committee are two reasons to send her back to the Senate.
“It has been 92 years since a Maine senator was chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the most powerful committee in the Senate,” Collins said in May, saying she had a “once-in-a-century opportunity to help the state of Maine.”
Primaries for governor and 2nd House District are also on the ballot
In the governor’s race, Democrats are choosing between Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows; former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson; former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Hannah Pingree; energy executive Angus King III; and former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Nirav Shah.
The Republican ballot for governor is even more crowded. Republicans will choose between former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Bobby Charles; healthcare executive Jonathan Bush; former Maine Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason; University of Maine System trustee Owen McCarthy; former Paris, Maine, selectman Robert Wessels; and business owners David Jones and Ben Midgley.
In the 2nd Congressional District, former Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, state Sen. Joe Baldacci, former U.S. Senate candidate Jordan Wood and social worker Paige Loud are on the ballot for the Democrats. The winner will face LePage, a Trump ally.
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Associated Press journalist Rodrique Ngowi contributed from Sullivan, Maine.
