Scandal-hit Graham Platner clinches Dem Maine Senate primary

BLUE HILL, Maine — Controversial oyster farmer and Marine veteran Graham Platner easily won Maine’s Democratic Senate primary Tuesday night.The Associated Press called the race for Platner at 9:23 pm ET, just over an hour after the polls closed in Maine.He jumped to an early lead with 75% of the vote with just 8% of the ballots counted, beating Gov.

Janet Mills, who stopped campaigning in April.The scandal-plagued Dem will face GOP Sen.Susan Collins in November in one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races.

Early voting in Maine kicked off on May 11, before two former girlfriends of Platner’s accused him last week of physical abuse and other troubling behavior.Then, on the eve of the primary, Platner’s former campaign political director Genevieve McDonald wrote a damning Washington Post op-ed warning Maine voters that he was unfit to become a senator.“I quit the campaign in October, disturbed by what I learned about the candidate and concerned about his potential impact on the Democratic Party’s prospects in my home state,” McDonald warned.McDonald had also confirmed on the record that Platner’s wife disclosed to her that the candidate had sexted at least half a dozen other women since the pair married in 2023.Platner was discovered to have an account on Kik, an anonymous chat platform notorious for facilitating hookups and sexual messages to young girls.The Democrat’s profile featured a mirror selfie of him shirtless, with a towel around his waist while his hand and cellphone covered up his notorious “Totenkopf” tattoo.Voters at polling centers in Portland and Augusta told The Post they were still supporting Platner — though some cast their vote for him reluctantly.“I mean he’s doing that himself,” Kristina Areccha, told The Post when asked about whether the scandals make Platner look bad.

“Where is the bar in politics?”Many committed Platner backers cited their eagerness to see Collins lose as their top reason for voti...