Maine Senate Primary Tests Platner Amid Scandals

Maine voters on Tuesday confront a Senate primary that pits personal controversies against the Democratic Party’s urgent need to unseat five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Control of the chamber rests in part on whether Graham Platner can survive questions about his past conduct and still defeat Collins in November.

Platner, a former Marine and oyster farmer, entered the race last August and quickly built a fundraising and polling lead over Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign in April. Early voting began May 14. The only other Senate candidates on the ballot are Mills and former 2024 nominee David Costello. Platner’s supporters cite his positions on universal health care and reducing money in politics; critics point to a series of revelations.

Those revelations include Reddit posts from 2009 to 2021 containing profane and racist remarks and comments that appeared to downplay sexual assault. Additional reports described sexually explicit texts Platner sent while married and accounts from three former girlfriends alleging volatile behavior, including one claim that he twisted a woman’s arm and locked her in a room. Platner has said he was unaware of the tattoo’s Nazi resemblance until late last year, has covered it, and denied physical allegations as politically motivated. He attributed earlier conduct to post-traumatic stress and alcohol use after military service.

Interviews with nearly two dozen Maine voters show divided reactions. Some Democratic and independent voters said they are considering supporting Collins or abstaining because of the accumulating reports. Others, including older women who form a core of the state party, said they accept Platner’s account of personal growth and will follow cues from Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. National Republicans have already run ads highlighting the Reddit posts and tattoo.

The same day’s ballot includes open gubernatorial primaries in Maine and South Carolina that use ranked-choice voting or runoff rules, plus House contests in Maine’s 2nd District and several Nevada seats. In South Carolina, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham faces multiple challengers after receiving President Trump’s endorsement. No candidate in the Maine Senate primary is expected to face a serious threat at the ballot box, but observers will watch protest-vote totals and turnout patterns for signs of general-election weakness.