Platner wins Maine Senate nod despite sexting controversy

Graham Platner won the Maine Democratic primary Tuesday, setting up a general election against Republican Sen. Susan Collins. The win came despite scrutiny over sexually explicit texts reported during the campaign and growing pressure to prove he can move past

By the time Mary Saunders finished weighing her choices in Augusta. the outcome in Maine’s Senate race was already widely treated as a foregone conclusion. Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent, and her Democratic challenger, Graham Platner, were expected to advance without serious primary resistance.

But Tuesday’s Maine primary still carried a different weight—especially for Platner. His path to the nomination wasn’t just a fight against Collins on the November ballot. It was also a fight to rebuild credibility in a campaign that has been rocked by controversy.

The result was not in doubt: Platner won the Maine Democratic primary and will face Collins in the general election. Collins is the only Republican senator from New England.

Platner’s victory comes with his candidacy still shadowed by a texting controversy that surfaced in recent weeks. He has been scrutinized after reports that he sent sexually explicit text messages with several women while married to his wife, Amy Gertner.

Gertner has called the news coverage “gossip.” Genevieve McDonald, a then-campaign staffer for Platner, told the Associated Press that Platner “sexting multiple women while married” and that “the campaign tried to assess that as an election vulnerability.”

The account of how the campaign learned of the messages has varied in timing and detail. The Wall Street Journal reported that Gertner told the campaign in August about the messages—discovered on Platner’s phone last year. The campaign team reportedly decided the texts were private and being handled by the couple, who were married in 2023.

After that, the private handling appears to have shifted further into public view. The two are in counseling, Gertner has said, and Platner has his own therapist.

For Platner, Tuesday was also about staying on offense despite that turbulence. An oyster farmer and former chair of the planning board in the small town of Sullivan, Platner has energized supporters across Maine, drawing hundreds of people to rallies.

He was endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who campaigned with him in the run-up to the primary. In the campaign, Platner said he plans to focus on economic issues such as housing and healthcare.

At an election night watch party in Blue Hill. Platner’s mother. Leslie Harlow. told the crowd she was proud of her son and hopeful for a big win. Harlow said Platner has always been “very passionate about serving others and making life better for the people around him. ” and she described him as a dedicated worker since his younger days as a blueberry raker and supermarket grocery bagger.

Inside the event atmosphere. supporters made clear they were ready to turn the page—at least emotionally—even if the questions are likely to follow him into the general election. The watch party was held at the Blue Hill YMCA, about 30 miles from Platner’s hometown of Sullivan. Supporters gathered to hear a speech from Platner, expected after results came in.

The mood was high, with people assembling in front of a podium where Platner would speak.

In the lead-up to Tuesday, one major factor made Platner’s path to the nomination smoother than many expected: Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign weeks ago. With that in place, Platner’s name became the clear focus within his party.

Voters at the event suggested Collins was the next target. Merrill Poddle of Ellsworth. Maine. said he voted for Platner and questioned how much Collins stands up to President Donald Trump. He said Collins’s opposition to Trump’s wishes has usually come only when the measures were expected to pass anyway.

Anne Dickens, also of Ellsworth, said she is backing Platner and questioned whether Collins has a vision for Maine. Dickens said Collins has been “too conservative” and “too much with the Trump view.”

Still. the contrast between Platner’s promise of change and the personal controversy that dogged his campaign remains the central tension heading into November. Tuesday’s victory doesn’t answer whether that controversy will be politically survivable—it only proves Platner can win inside his party while doing it.

Elsewhere on primary day, other races moved quickly, underscoring how much the political map is shifting at once. Across the country, voters in Maine, Nevada, South Carolina and North Dakota cast ballots Tuesday. President Donald Trump’s influence within his party was tested in states where he endorsed favored candidates.

In South Carolina. Lindsey Graham won the Republican nomination for a fifth Senate term after a victory speech in which he said he is “coming back to the Senate in ’27. ” and will “help you change this world and change this country.” He also said he wants to help Trump put “as many conservative judges on the Court as we can.”.

In California, Republican Steve Hilton advanced to the general election for California governor and will face Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former state attorney general and Biden administration health secretary.

But in Maine, the center of gravity is now fixed: Platner’s Democratic win sets up the contest against Collins, and the unanswered question is whether the campaign’s controversies can be contained—or whether they will become the defining story of November’s race for the Senate seat.

Polls in Maine closed at 8 p.m. ET. and the state uses ranked choice voting in some races. though the Senate Democratic primary isn’t expected to go to ranked choice voting. If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes. Maine’s ranked choice tabulation rules could delay final results for some contests by another week or two.

For Platner, though, Tuesday’s headline is simple: he won. The harder fight begins now.

Maine primary Graham Platner Susan Collins U.S. Senate ranked choice voting sexting controversy Amy Gertner Bernie Sanders election results