Platner wins Maine Senate primary, setting up Collins race

Graham Platner won Maine’s Democratic Senate primary Tuesday despite a campaign shadowed by personal controversies, giving progressives a nominee for one of the party’s top chances to flip a Republican-held seat in November.

Platner, 41, a military veteran and oyster farmer from Sullivan, defeated Gov. Janet Mills, who had suspended her campaign but remained on the ballot, and David Costello. Early results reported by Reuters showed Platner with 72% of the vote. His victory sets up a general election against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who was unopposed in her primary and is seeking another term after first winning the seat in 1996.

Democrats view Maine as a critical Senate battleground as they try to win control of the chamber. Collins, the last Republican senator from New England, chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. Maine backed Democrat Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race.

Speaking to supporters at a YMCA gym in Blue Hill, Platner directly addressed the allegations and revelations that have followed his campaign, including old online posts, sexually explicit messages sent to women early in his marriage, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol and accusations from a former girlfriend, denied by Platner, that he had been physically intimidating. His campaign has disputed claims against him, and Platner has repeatedly apologized for aspects of his past conduct, linking some comments to PTSD and depression after combat deployments.

“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. “I’ve made mistakes in my life, mistakes that I regret, that I live with, that I continue to learn from.”

Platner, backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, has campaigned on the cost of living, housing affordability and health care. He used his victory speech to attack Collins over abortion, judicial nominations and foreign policy. “Susan Collins may have started her career decades ago in Washington with good intentions, but she has become just as spineless and corrupt as the establishment she now serves,” he said. He also accused her of backing “endless wars,” saying, “You and your friends profited, and my friends died.”

Collins’ campaign emphasized her seniority and work in Washington. “While others talk about revolution and division, Susan Collins is delivering for Maine communities by funding rural hospitals, supporting our shipbuilders and fishermen, improving infrastructure, expanding broadband, and strengthening public safety,” spokesperson Shawn Roderick said.

National Democrats quickly rallied behind Platner. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said Collins “has never been more vulnerable” and predicted Maine voters would elect Platner. Republicans have signaled they will make Platner’s past a central issue; the Senate Leadership Fund called him a “dangerous deviant.”

Tuesday’s primaries in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina also underscored Donald Trump’s influence in Republican contests. In South Carolina, Sen. Lindsey Graham won renomination without being forced into a runoff after receiving Trump’s backing. “President Trump, I’m coming back to the Senate,” Graham said. Trump praised Graham’s “BIG WIN tonight” on Truth Social.

In the South Carolina governor’s race, Rep. Nancy Mace lost after demanding the release of government files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump’s preferred candidate, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, did not win a majority and will face state Attorney General Alan Wilson in a runoff. Mace wrote on X that she “chose to stand on principle and stand against the Epstein cover-up,” adding, “apparently, I chose wrong if the goal was winning an election.”

In Nevada, Democrats nominated state Attorney General Aaron Ford for governor, setting up a competitive race against Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. Ford said Nevadans are facing higher costs “at the gas pump” and “at the grocery store,” and tied Lombardo to Trump.

Republicans in Nevada also nominated Marty O’Donnell, a composer known for the Halo video game soundtrack, to challenge Democratic Rep. Susie Lee in the competitive 3rd Congressional District. In Maine, ranked-choice tabulations will decide the Republican primary for governor, the Democratic gubernatorial primary and the Democratic race in the 2nd Congressional District, where no candidate won an outright majority.