Platner wins – Graham Platner won the Democratic Senate primary in Maine Tuesday and will face Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November, even as a long run of scandals—old Reddit posts, a Nazi imagery tattoo, later allegations of sexting, and troubling reports from former g
When Graham Platner stepped into Maine’s Democratic Senate primary, voters had already lived through months of fallout—yard signs going up in driveways while new allegations kept landing like new weight on an old stack of worries.
Last fall. the oysterman running for the Democratic nomination for US Senate in Maine found himself pulled into controversy after old Reddit posts surfaced. In them, Platner was shown blaming victims of sexual assault and calling himself a communist. Another story later described Nazi imagery tattooed on his chest, which he covered up. Platner faced that series of scandals relatively unscathed at the time. admitting to his checkered past and saying he had changed.
In late May, the Wall Street Journal reported that Platner’s wife informed his campaign that he had sexted women outside of their marriage on an app called Kik. Then last week, the New York Times published reports of “unsettling” behavior by Platner from former girlfriends.
But on Tuesday, Platner won the Democratic Senate primary to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the November general election. By Tuesday, he was running largely unopposed. His only serious opponent, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign in late April.
In Camden. Maine. Alex Seitz-Wald. deputy editor of the Midcoast Villager. has been tracking how Platner went from an unknown oyster farmer—he jumped in as a candidate in August. running against a two-term sitting governor—to a nominee heading into a high-stakes race that could help decide control of the Senate.
Seitz-Wald said many voters he has spoken with are torn by what has come out, but not torn enough to break from him.
“I’ve been talking to Platner voters since he jumped in as this totally unknown oyster farmer in August. who no one had heard of. running against a two-term sitting governor. ” Seitz-Wald said. describing how Platner quickly built a bond with people. The Reddit and tattoo controversies from last fall, Seitz-Wald said, were something many voters helped him survive. But he said the later accusations “definitely hit differently.”.
“The latest round of scandals kind of punctured that narrative,” Seitz-Wald said, pointing to the timing. He said one of the reasons people felt the shift so sharply was that Platner only got married in 2023. while the Kik sexting allegations were described as coming from just a couple of years ago—meaning they were not tied to his early life in his 20s.
That fed disappointment and cynicism. One voter Seitz-Wald spoke with said they were “heartbroken” because they believed Platner was different. especially after his response to the first wave of scandal. In that earlier period. Seitz-Wald said Platner built a redemption arc around portraying himself as a combat veteran with PTSD and being in a dark place. Seitz-Wald said Platner then came home to Maine. got involved with his community and his business. and met his now-wife. presenting himself as a changed man.
“The latest round of scandals kind of punctured that narrative,” Seitz-Wald said. Still, he added, partisan force and the high stakes of the Senate race are shaping how people vote.
A number of Democratic voters. Seitz-Wald said. are making a pragmatic calculation: if the alternative is losing to Susan Collins yet again. they’re more willing to accept concerns about Platner’s personal life. “The stakes are too high. Supreme Court. control of the Senate. everything else. ” Seitz-Wald said voters are saying. framing it as a choice to back the candidate they view as the only chance.
Outside Maine, Seitz-Wald said, the narrative about who Platner is has been far more negative than what he has seen on the ground. He described a contrast he feels daily: when he drives his daughter to school, he passes dozens of Platner yard signs that have been out every day for months.
“There’s a major disconnect between what I’ve seen and heard on the ground … and between what the national narrative is. which is typically much more negative. ” Seitz-Wald said. He also said Platner worked to turn the attacks into a story about being misunderstood by people “from away. ” a theme Seitz-Wald said hits hard in Maine.
In that telling, the idea of being “a Mainer” or “from away” became a kind of shield. Seitz-Wald said Platner used it to argue that attacks—like those tied to reporting outside Maine—shouldn’t be trusted over local judgment.
Even so, he warned that the shakiness after the newest allegations is real.
“There’s definitely a lot of shakiness and a lot of concern, a lot of disappointment,” Seitz-Wald said.
Heading into November, the question isn’t whether Maine Democrats are watching the headlines. It’s whether those concerns will translate into defections when the top of the ticket is on the ballot.
The race, Seitz-Wald said, will test Platner against a candidate who understands how to win split-ticket voters. He described Collins as having a “proven, almost unique ability” to get people to vote for Joe Biden at the top and then pull the lever for her.
So even if Platner holds the coalition for the primary—Seitz-Wald said he has been able to raise money. hold the coalition together. and has yet to see defections from elected officials—only “a relatively small number of defections” might be enough to swing the race back toward Collins. especially if more revelations emerge.
Seitz-Wald believes Platner can win, but he also cautioned that Maine’s political history does not guarantee an easy path. Any Democrat, he said, would have faced an uphill climb against Collins. Maine has not voted for a Republican president since 1988. which can make the race look like “low-hanging fruit. ” but Seitz-Wald said Collins has proven to be effective.
“It’s really not,” he said of the idea that the seat is guaranteed for Democrats.
He pointed to prior results as proof of how tight the contest has been. In 2020. Seitz-Wald said. Democrats ran a “squeaky-clean. well-qualified candidate” who raised twice as much money as Collins and still lost by nine percentage points. For Seitz-Wald. that history is part of why some Democrats feel willing—almost necessary—to try something different this time. even if it means backing a candidate who has been forced to carry multiple scandals into the fall.
Platner’s job between now and November, Seitz-Wald said, will be to keep the connection that has worked for him so far—town halls in a small state where “retail politics” matters and face-to-face campaigning can help—and to prevent the newest wave of allegations from cracking the coalition.
At the center of it all is a single, relentless reality: Tuesday’s win put Platner on the ballot. The questions he faces now are whether voters will still be willing to choose him once the race turns into a referendum on trust, character, and the risk of losing control of the Senate again.
Graham Platner Susan Collins Maine Senate race Democratic primary Kik sexting allegations Nazi imagery tattoo Reddit controversy Alex Seitz-Wald Midcoast Villager Janet Mills political scandals