Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner built a national reputation as an anti-corporate crusader while cashing checks written by lobbyists and executives representing those same corporations, campaign finance documents show.Platner has made criticism of big tech, the pharmaceutical industry, large banks and defense contractors a cornerstone of his campaign to unseat incumbent GOP Sen.Susan Collins.
Federal Election Commission and Lobbying Disclosure Act records reviewed by Fox News Digital show that Platner accepted more than $30,000 from lobbyists representing a range of interests and executives at major companies between August 2025 and March of this year.The donations were made personally by lobbyists and executives, not by the corporations themselves."Our new ad speaks to one of the most urgent issues I hear on the campaign trail: our healthcare system is collapsing," Platner posted to X on March 24, referencing a campaign ad where he promised to take on the drug industry if elected to the Senate."We should shut down Big Pharma, not our hospitals."Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has campaigned on progressive economic policies focused on taxing billionaires and lowering costs for working-class Americans.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)UNEARTHED FEC RECORDS EXPOSE VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR'S HYPOCRISY ON TAKING CASH FROM BILLIONAIRESThe Senate hopeful also signed a pledge on March 25 promising to "to put patients over profits" by refusing "contributions over $200 from the executives, lobbyists, and PACs affiliated with the corporate health care industry, including private insurers, pharma corporations, and private hospitals who are organizing to take over our health care system."Platner, however, months earlier, accepted a $1,000 donation from a lobbyist at Cornerstone Government Affairs who was working as a lobbyist for AbbVie, a major pharmaceutical company, lobbying records show.Shortly after making his post on X, Platner accepted another $1,000 from ...