Potholes In The Road to The Smooth Flipping of Maine’s U.S. Senate Seat

Maine’s Senate race has consistently been identified as the best chance for Democrats to win in the 2026 mid-term elections come November, and therefrom to win the majority in that house.

Graham Platner, the presumptive nominee, has built an energized campaign, and Harris won the state by seven points in 2024. Although she has occasionally opposed Trump, incumbent Sen. Susan Collins has angered many Democrats with her votes, including confirming Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who then overturned abortion rights. Platner, an oyster farmer from Down East and former U.S. Marine, has won support from a variety of constituencies, including younger Mainers and those opposed to Trump’s self-serving agenda.

But, these are tough times for Democrats.

A significant proportion of their voters have been frustrated by the party’s perceived inability to resist Trump’s wrecking-ball approach to governing, and by its decision not to restrain Israel’s bloody and ruthless assault on Gaza.  Many of these Democrats also feel that older leaders such as Sen. Chuck Shumer (D-NY) are insufficiently energized about other issues dear to their hearts, such as the inexorable climb in the cost of living and the (Trump-tariff-and-war-induced) shocking increase in the cost of fuels like gasoline and diesel oil.

Platner has been appealing successfully to many of his party’s voters who are motivated by these issues, including leaders’ ages and fealty to the party’s somewhat timeworn platform. He grew tearful in one national interview over his best Marine friend’s severe injury. But his vulnerabilities have been getting attention, too.

For one thing,  in years gone by he has posted comments on social media that seemed hostile to women.  Most prominently, he years ago also, (after an evening of imbibing, he says,) got a skull-and-bones tattoo like Nazi Germany’s elite SS troops’ emblem. The SS was in charge of the concentration camps where millions of Jews, Gays, Roma and others were sent to their deaths.

Furthermore, on May 30th the Wall Street Journal disclosed a former campaign aide’s report of sexually explicit emails Platner had sent to several women at one point in the early years of his marriage. Platner responded forcefully to the report, saying that media outlets were focused on “gossip” instead of issues such as the shuttering of child care facilities, low wages for teachers and nurses and that working-class Americans are having to work harder for less. His wife Amy Gertner posted a video saying that she and Platner had addressed the emails through therapy and that their marriage is now stronger than ever.  The report is another blow, however, coming as it does after Platner said in interviews about his tattoo that there were no more damaging disclosures to come out.

Platner has issued an unusually heartfelt apology for these indiscretions, and many Democrats appear willing to accept it; and he has covered the offending tattoo.  But other Democrats have jumped on the opposition band wagon,  attacking Platner for the lapses. Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss, for example, in a rare departure from party tradition, went out of his way to announce his opposition to, and refusal to endorse, Platner.  Platner responded that the Massachusetts congressman is unlikely to influence many Maine voters.  Also, shortly after the email disclosure, Gov. Mills has reminded voters she is still on the ballot.

Platner has still maintained a lead of some nine points over Collins, and is conducting a vigorous campaign throughout the state. He secured a massive 73-76% favorability rating among likely Democratic primary voters. In another noteworthy move, he ran an ad during a Boston Red Sox game claiming that private equity was stripping the team for parts. Observers say he has electrified Mainers.

Closer to conventional politics, he recently won the endorsement of VoteVets, a major veterans’ organization, which will likely yield substantial financial support. His latest occupation, as an aquaculturist raising oysters in the bays and inlets of Maine’s down-east coast, must resonate with many voters in this still largely rural, agriculturalist state.  His record as a Marine in a combat unit is likely also to appeal, particularly if voters recall Trump’s repeated deferments from military service.  But the above kind of internal negativity is unlikely to help the effort to win the Senate majority.

Collins has been skillful in overcoming such challenges in the past, pointing repeatedly to the federal dollars she brings home, for ship repairs at Bath Iron Works and for other cash-yielding programs. Republican Senate leadership, to hold onto their majority, will likely deliver additional pork barrel grants as the election nears. She has, however, not been awarded a leadership position despite suggesting it was coming.

In response to Platner’s criticism that she voted for Republican wars, one of which saw him sent to Iraq, she noted Platner had joined the military of his own volition.  Although she supported the Trump Iran war when it started, she also voted in favor of the latest resolution requiring congressional war authorization.  Collins is also from a small town in a rural area, and her laconic, down-home style is something many voters can identify with.

Written By Paul Merry, SU4W Board Member