BLUE HILL, Maine — He's been facing one of the roughest stretches of his bid for the U.S.Senate, but Graham Platner on Tuesday captured the Democratic Party's Senate nomination.Platner, a military combat veteran and oyster farmer who is backed by progressive champions Sens.
Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep.Ro Khanna of California, defeated two longshot rivals in Maine's Democratic Senate primary, the Associated Press reports.The embattled Platner, who is facing numerous controversies, will now challenge moderate Republican Sen.
Susan Collins, who was unopposed for the GOP nomination, in left-leaning Maine in this year's midterm elections.The race is one of a handful across the country that will determine whether the GOP keeps control of its slim Senate majority.Platner, who advocates an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class, also topped two-term Democratic Gov.
Janet Mills in the primary.The governor's name remained on the ballot even though Mills, who had been backed by longtime Democratic Senate Leader Sen.
Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats' campaign arm, suspended her bid earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE'S MAJORITYGraham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S.Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine.
(Robert F.Bukaty/AP Photo)"We’re going to win in November and we’re going to take power back for the people in this country," Platner predicted Sunday night, at his final rally ahead of the primary.Platner has been playing defense the past month, amid multiple controversies.
They include inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several wom...