SouthernWorldwide.com – Despite facing a challenging period in his campaign for the U.S. Senate, Graham Platner secured the Democratic Party’s nomination on Tuesday.
Platner, a combat veteran and oyster farmer endorsed by progressive figures like Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, along with Representative Ro Khanna, defeated two less prominent rivals in Maine’s Democratic Senate primary, as reported by the Associated Press.
The embattled Platner, who is navigating several controversies, will now face off against the moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins in the upcoming midterm elections in the left-leaning state of Maine. Collins ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. This contest is one of several nationwide that will determine which party controls the slim Republican majority in the Senate.
Platner, who champions an economically populist platform and targets corporate influence while advocating for the working class, also surpassed two-term Democratic Governor Janet Mills in the primary. Governor Mills’s name remained on the ballot despite suspending her campaign earlier in the spring, having significantly trailed Platner in fundraising and polling. She had been supported by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm.
Platner expressed confidence, stating, “We’re going to win in November and we’re going to take power back for the people in this country,” during his final rally before the primary on Sunday night.
For the past month, Platner has been on the defensive due to multiple controversies. These include inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol which has since been covered up, recent reports of exchanging sexually explicit messages with several women while married, and new allegations from former girlfriends detailing a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking, and violent episodes. Platner has refuted the latest allegations of violence as untrue.
On Monday, the day before the primary election, a former high-level staffer from Platner’s campaign wrote in the Washington Post that Platner “is not someone who would be good for Maine or for the country.”
While the escalating controversies led some Democrats in Washington to question Platner’s viability, the candidate expressed gratitude to Maine voters for their continued support over the weekend.
“When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth. Maine had my back,” Platner stated at a rally on Friday near his hometown in Down East Maine. “Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.”
Platner, who has openly discussed his struggles with PTSD from his military service in Iraq and Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they gained media attention last fall shortly after he announced his Senate campaign.
He also explained that he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He stated he covered it with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. However, new allegations from a former girlfriend cast doubt on Platner’s timeline regarding his awareness of the tattoo’s appearance.
“I’m more concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that,” commented Khanna. “I talked to Graham and he says he was at a very dark period, he had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantryman seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”
Khanna added that Platner believes he “really grew as a person when he came back to Maine and he was an oyster farmer and he found peace and he is ashamed of that period. To me that suggests someone taking accountability and improving their lives and we need that redemption in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class.”
Jeff from Waterboro, Maine, commented, “it’s not a good situation” regarding Platner. “I think it’s somebody who shouldn’t be in the mix. I am a conservative, but he’s just got so much damage, if the Democrats want to have a winner, they’re going to have to find somebody else. He’s not the guy. It’s just too much.”
Ellen from Acton, Maine, a registered Republican, stated, “Is he a perfect person? Heck no.”
However, she added, “I think he will go in and do a good job.”
Senator Collins, who returned to Maine on Friday after a busy week in Washington where she cast her 10,000th consecutive vote in the Senate, was asked by reporters about the recent allegations against Platner.
“The allegations in the latest story are troubling,” Collins responded. “And I believe that Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.”
Platner is facing significant criticism from Republican groups. A super PAC associated with Collins has been running advertisements highlighting Platner’s controversies.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has labeled Platner a “fraud.”
“He’s preaching about living a small but decent life growing up in Maine. The truth? Graham Platner is an elitist whose parents sent him to boarding school in Connecticut and bought him a house,” the NRSC stated.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) also targeted Platner.
“Graham Platner says his violent and erratic past is being ‘weaponized’ against him. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and ‘rape was about power,'” the RNC research team wrote on X, referencing the latest allegations against the candidate.
Despite the allegations and the Republican attacks, none of the Democratic politicians who have endorsed Platner have withdrawn their support.
Platner has attracted large crowds and built a substantial fundraising base. Democrats view Maine as a key opportunity to gain a Senate seat and potentially secure the majority.
However, defeating Collins will be a formidable task. Six years ago, despite polls suggesting she was headed for defeat, Collins defied expectations and won re-election by a nine-point margin against then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon.
Collins, a moderate Republican who occasionally votes against President Donald Trump’s agenda, is seeking her sixth term in the Senate.
The senator voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial in 2021, following the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Early last year, she opposed the confirmation of Pete Hegseth, now the Secretary of Defense.
However, she is also remembered for her 2018 vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, a decision that contributed to the court’s conservative majority overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which had legalized abortion nationwide.
