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Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
In Maine, a political novice makes a long-shot bid to oust Senator Susan Collins
Advertisement 'We need to stop using the exact same playbook that keeps losing over and over and over again,' said Platner, a political unknown who serves as the local harbor master in the tiny town of Sullivan. 'Running establishment candidates who are chosen or supported by the powers that be in D.C. -- in Maine specifically -- has been a total failure, certainly in attempts to unseat Susan Collins. It is time for us to try something new.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up A competitive pistol shooter who worked as a bartender at the Tune Inn on Capitol Hill while attending George Washington University on the GI Bill, he said that 'everyone knows we live in a system that is not built to represent working-class people.' Platner said he had been approached in the past to run for local office, and had always turned it down. But when a group of labor unions focused on climate issues reached out to him about running for Senate, Platner found himself open to the idea. Advertisement 'The political situation feels like a precipice,' he said. 'It feels like it will go really, really dark, or we have an opportunity to claw something back for working people in this country.' An untested candidate like Platner may be a risky bet, but some Democratic strategists said that at a moment of deep anti-Washington sentiment, voters are demanding new faces over veteran politicians they view as part of a system that has failed them. Platner said he was recruited by political organizers who were worried that 'there was going to be a bad decision made for this race, and they went looking around this state for someone. I am terrified that the Democrats are going to squander what could otherwise be a spectacular opportunity.' He said his campaign would focus relentlessly on the dire economic landscape that has made it difficult to afford a house or health care in his state. And his pitch is that he has a unique ability to 'appeal to a lot of voters in Maine who aren't usually on the side of a Democratic politician, or a lot of people who just stopped voting, because they see a political system they feel does not and cannot represent them.' He has already attracted some national political operators to work on his campaign. His sepia-toned launch video was produced by Morris Katz, a top adviser to Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor. A senior adviser is Joe Calvello, who previously worked on the campaign of Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. Advertisement Platner, whose light social media footprint indicates that he has supported Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he did not define himself as a progressive or a centrist. But he laughed at the idea that he would have any challenge in connecting with supporters of President Donald Trump. Half of his friends and colleagues at the dock voted for Trump, he said. 'I'm a waterman who works in the ocean with his hands. I'm a competitive pistol shooter -- that's my weekend hobby. I have an extensive combat background,' he said. 'Even if I tried to put myself into the buckets that we as a society have created, I don't fit into any of them.' Maine Republicans disagree. 'Being a Bernie Bro and Kamala Harris donor is a profile to appeal to Portland progressives, not centrist and conservative voters in rural Maine,' said Jason Savage, the executive director of the Maine Republican Party. (Platner made a small donation to Harris' campaign last year, and in 2016 donated to Sanders' presidential campaign.) Jordan Wood, a progressive former congressional aide, entered the race in April, making a pitch that Collins 'hasn't changed the system -- she's part of it.' For years, Collins, 72, who leads the powerful Appropriations Committee, has been able to fend off well-funded Democratic challengers despite Maine voting Democratic in the past three presidential elections. But this cycle, she is facing record-low polling, and her race is one of the top targets for Democrats seeking to win back control of the Senate. Platner may need to hone his attacks on Collins as he tries to make the case against her. In the interview, he criticized Collins for allowing Trump's sprawling domestic policy bill to win approval by the Appropriations Committee, then voting against it on the Senate floor. Yet the legislation was not a spending bill, and never went through the committee. Advertisement Mills, a two-term governor and former prosecutor, is still seen by her party's establishment as the strongest candidate to defeat Collins. She clashed with Trump at the White House this year over his threat to deny federal funding to Maine over the issue of transgender athletes competing in women's sports. But Mills is also not viewed as a perfect candidate. At a time when many Democratic voters are demanding generational change, Mills, if elected, would be 79 when taking office, making her the oldest first-term senator in history. 'I would think seriously about it, but I'm not ready to make any decisions along those lines,' Mills told a local television station in Maine this month. This article originally appeared in
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Veteran who served in Middle Eastern wars launches campaign against Sen. Susan Collins
Print Close By Pilar Arias Published August 19, 2025 More than a year before voters take to the polls, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has a new challenger. Early Tuesday morning, Graham Platner entered the race as a Democrat. The combat veteran served in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, according to his online biography, and is now the owner-operator of Waukeag Neck Oyster Co. His campaign Facebook page says he is a "friend of the working Mainer, foe of the oligarchy." He already has more than a dozen town halls scheduled across the New England state. "[E]very where I've gone, it seems like the fabric of what holds us together is being ripped apart by billionaires and corrupt politicians," Platner, 40, said in a campaign launch video. SENATE DEMOCRATS ARE FEVERISHLY RECRUITING TOP CANDIDATES TO WIN BACK MAJORITY IN 2026 MIDTERMS "Profiting off of destroying our environment, driving our families into poverty and crushing the middle class," he said. Platner went on to say he supports universal healthcare, aiding veterans and stopping funding for foreign wars. The video was produced by Morris Katz, a top adviser to the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, according to the New York Times. "Being a Bernie Bro and Kamala Harris donor is a profile to appeal to Portland progressives, not centrist and conservative voters in rural Maine," Jason Savage, the executive director of the Maine Republican Party said, according to the Times. TRUMP ALLY MIKE COLLINS LAUNCH KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE BID TO FLIP DEMOCRAT-HELD SENATE SEAT Platner, a political newcomer, told Politico that he also brought on Joe Cavello, a former senior aide to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., to help with his campaign. "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 told the media outlet. "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." The Democratic challenger list against Collins is growing, and reports say those already in office are trying to tap Janet Mills, the state's 77-year-old Democratic governor, for the seat. Republicans currently control the majority of the Senate by a 53-47 margin. Democrats would need to flip four seats in the 2026 midterm elections to take the majority. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A spokesperson for Collins told Fox News Digital that Platner is "just another progressive entering the race." Print Close URL
6 hours ago
- Politics
Graham Platner, oysterman and harbormaster from rural Maine, enters race to challenge Sen. Susan Collins
Graham Platner, a military veteran and oysterman from a small town near Maine's Acadia National Park, will run for U.S. Senate as a Democrat, he announced on Tuesday, in an effort to oust Republican Susan Collins, the five-term senator who is expected to run for reelection next year. A campaign launch video shows Platner, bearded and broad-shouldered with a gruff voice, harvesting oysters and chopping wood as he describes how Maine has become "essentially unlivable for working-class people." In an interview Monday with ABC News, Platner said he was driven to run by the growing wealth gap in the U.S., which he said has crippled working-class people in his home state. "We are moving in a position where regular, working-class people can't even afford to live in the towns that they were born in," said Platner, who after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Army and Marine Corps, moved to the coastal community of Sullivan where he grew up. Platner might draw comparisons to Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman or Dan Osborn, the union leader running as an independent for the Senate in Nebraska after a failed attempt last year. Both men campaigned for the Senate as champions, and representatives, of the white working class, a demographic with whom Democrats have lost ground in recent cycles. Platner has hired Fight Agency, a Democratic consulting firm whose members have worked for Fetterman and Osborn's campaigns, as well as that of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for New York mayor. "I drink coffee every morning with the guys that I work next to, who are friends of mine, who all voted for Donald Trump. And they voted for Donald Trump because they wanted something new, they wanted change," Platner told ABC News, arguing that his understanding of these voters could help steer the Democratic Party, which he described as "quite confused," back to a winning track. "The Democratic Party needs to return to an age where it is the party of labor unions, it is the party of community organizers, it is the party of fighting for big structural change to benefit working class people," he said. Asked who he believes is the face of the Democratic Party, Platner said there isn't one, but he indicated an affinity for some of the most progressive members of the Senate. He said he admires the former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and respects Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. Platner described "Medicare for All" as an urgent priority and called the war in Gaza a "genocide," saying he follows the lead of "Israeli scholars on genocide." On the hot-button cultural issue of transgender women's participation in sports, he said the topic is a "distraction from the things that impact Americans materially every single day." "I am dedicated to equality and justice for all in this country," Platner said. "And I think that this specific topic has become such a touchstone of the media discussion because it pulls us away from the conversation that needs to be happening, which is getting every American affordable health care." Maine briefly became the center of the debate over transgender youth in sports in February, after a public spat between President Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills over the Trump's administration's threat to withhold funding over a Maine anti-discrimination law that lets transgender women participate in girls' and women's sports. Shortly afterward, at a demonstration protesting the Trump administration, Platner, who leads a Democratic grassroots group in Hancock County, said Mills "displayed great courage when she defended Maine's laws to Donald Trump's face," according to a transcript of the remarks posted online by a local Democratic group. Mills, a Democrat, has not ruled out entering the race and has reportedly been urged to run by national Democrats who believe she would offer the best chance at flipping Collins' seat. Asked about a potential primary challenge from Mills, Platner told ABC News that Democrats "really need to stop running the same kind of playbook over and over and over again. "I think we really need to start thinking outside of the box on the type of candidates that we're sending into these races," he said. Asked if he has spoken with national Democrats about backing his campaign, Platner said no. "Nobody has called me, and I'm not really in a position to call anybody because I'm the harbormaster of Sullivan, Maine," he said.
NBC News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Iraq and Afghanistan veteran launches Democratic campaign against Sen. Susan Collins in Maine
Graham Platner, a 40-year-old Army and Marine veteran who served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, launched his campaign for the Senate in Maine on Tuesday, joining a growing Democratic primary field seeking to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Platner, an oyster farmer who was born and raised in Sullivan, Maine, will run on a platform of universal health care, housing affordability and ending U.S. involvement in foreign wars. 'I feel an obligation to protect this place and protect the people in it,' Platner said in an interview. Platner joins a growing Democratic primary field that features Jordan Wood, a former chief of staff to former Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., and David Costello, who challenged independent Sen. Angus King last year. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has said she is considering getting into the contest, while Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, has opted against joining the budding primary in what, on paper, might look like Democrats' best opportunity to flip a Senate seat in 2026. Collins is the only Republican senator who represents a state Kamala Harris carried in the last presidential election. But she has proven a tough opponent in blue Maine. In her last campaign, in 2020, she beat Democratic opponent Sarah Gideon by more than 8 percentage points, even as Donald Trump lost Maine by more than 9 points. Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, meaning Democrats would need to flip four seats in the 2026 midterms to take the majority. Platner said his experience in the military helped shape his political perspective as he prepared his campaign. 'When I joined the Marine Corps, I joined up because I really, truly believed in the American project,' he said. 'I wanted to fight for something I loved and that I thought was good in Iraq and Afghanistan. I watched both failed policies, failed strategies, failed tactics being used over and over and over again.' 'There's a point where you have to start asking yourself what is the point of this,' he added. 'Why are you doing this? And when I went back as a security contractor in 2018, what I began to realize is that I was just watching vast amounts of taxpayer money getting put into the pockets of defense contractors, of security contractors, of this whole apparatus that almost seemed to exist merely to take taxpayer money and put it into somebody's private bank account. And in seeing that up close for a while, it turned me into a deeply, deeply cynical and angry guy. From that I began to kind of look at our larger political system, our larger economic system, and you just begin to see the same exact thing.' Platner is seeking to connect with working-class voters who've migrated toward the GOP in recent cycles. He pointed to Golden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as figures offering hope for the Democratic Party nationally and in his state. 'If we focus primarily on fighting for working-class values, fighting for policies that help working-class people, clawing back a lot of the power that has been consolidated in the kind of higher establishment-class politics, I think if you stick to that stuff, you can win,' Platner said. 'And getting dragged into many of these minor culture war fights is not remotely the answer.' 'I don't just identify with the more of the left parts of the party. People like Jared Golden are doing an excellent job. That's why he's been able to hold on to a Democratic seat in a Trump district,' Platner said. In his launch video, Platner excoriated 'billionaires and corrupt politicians profiting off and destroying our environment, driving our families into poverty and crushing the middle class,' saying his military experience made him unafraid to 'name an enemy, and the enemy is the oligarchy.' 'I'm not fooled by this fake charade of Collins' deliberations and moderation,' he said.
