Maine oyster farmer wants to upend Democratic politics with Senate bid

Politico

9 hours ago

Platner is running on several progressive tenets — though he rejects the label 'liberal' — and his announcement sets up the possibility of a clash between Democratic Party factions over generational change, Israel and other issues. In an interview with POLITICO, Platner said he would not support Chuck Schumer as Senate Majority Leader if Democrats managed to take back control in the 2026 midterm elections.
'The next leader needs to be one of vision and also somebody who is willing to fight,' he said. 'And I am not seeing either of those things coming out of the current Democratic leadership in the Senate.'
He echoed the calls for change that have roiled the party for months, saying it is time to 'really start moving towards building a much stronger, more robust group of young leaders across this country.'
Though he's a political newcomer, Platner said he has brought onboard two progressive strategists who have experience successfully running against establishment-favored Democrats: Morris Katz, a top admaker for New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, and Joe Calvello, a former senior aide to Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.).
Platner embraced a number of progressive causes in his announcement video, calling for universal health care, saying 'the enemy is the oligarchy,' and asking, 'Why are we funding endless wars and bombing children?' He also zeroed in on high prices, a top concern of voters and one that helped fuel Mamdani's rise in New York City.
Platner told POLITICO he would have supported Sen. Bernie Sanders' recent resolution to block arms sales to Israel.
Though he backed several liberal ideas, Platner shrugged off the label. Maine is a reliably blue state in presidential contests, but Collins has held onto her seat since 1997, and whoever the Senate Democratic nominee is will need to appeal to voters across the aisle.
'To call me a liberal, I think is fairly amusing. I mean, I'm a competitive pistol shooter. That's what I do on the weekends,' he said. 'I'm a firearms instructor. I spent multiple years, obviously, in the service utilizing firearms. I also grew up in rural Maine, where guns are a part of our existence.'
He said he also differed with 'the Democratic establishment' on 'expending American resources on foreign wars.'
Though much of the liberal base has recently called for fresh faces, national Democrats have turned to well-known, battle-tested — and older — candidates in their longshot effort to flip the upper chamber in 2026. Schumer recruited former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, 72, and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, 68, to launch Senate bids, and Democrats are hoping Mills, 77, joins them.
But it appears that Mills will not immediately clear the primary field. Platner vowed to stay in the race even if Mills jumped in, as did Jordan Wood, a former vice president of the liberal group End Citizens United who has raised $1.6 million for his Senate bid.
'Mainers deserve more from our senator than concern without action,' Wood said, 'and I'm not waiting on anyone else's decision to fight for our state.'