Graham Platner shrugs off scandals to win Maine Democratic Senate primary

Graham Platner speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event in Portland, Maine, on 7 June 2026. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP View image in fullscreen Graham Platner speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event in Portland, Maine, on 7 June 2026. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP Graham Platner shrugs off scandals to win Maine Democratic Senate primary Platner, whose campaign was hit by series of negative headlines, to face Susan Collins in key midterm contest Graham Platner , a Marine veteran, oyster farmer and progressive activist, has scaled a mountain of personal controversies to win the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Maine. Victory on Tuesday caps a remarkable rise for a candidate who has never held elected office and whose campaign was shadowed by negative headlines that might have ended a more conventional political career. Instead, in a result that would have seemed improbable only a year ago, Platner emerged battered but unbroken, convincing Democratic voters that his flaws are forgivable or unimportant in a year dominated by economic anxiety and anger at Donald Trump. The result sets up one of the most closely watched contests of the 2026 midterm elections. Platner will face the senator Susan Collins , a Republican running for a sixth six-year term, in November. The race is seen as a must-win for Democrats to take control of the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority. Platner’s primary-night watch party was held in a YMCA gym in Blue Hill, about 30 miles from his home town of Sullivan. A blue banner with a US flag, Maine state flag and the slogan “Graham Platner for US Senate” was erected behind a stage against a blue curtain backdrop. Guests were invited to hold signs that included “Families for Graham”, “Farmers and Fishers for Graham” and “Labor for Graham”. For months Platner’s candidacy resembled a political stress test and prompted soul searching in the Democratic party about moral hypocrisy, policy imperatives versus private misconduct and whether the party should emulate Republicans by putting need to win above other concerns. Reports emerged that Platner had exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married. Former partners described him as volatile and unfaithful . One ex-girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield, a Republican operative, alleged in the New York Times that more than a decade ago he twisted her arm behind her back during an argument and held her in a room against her will – claims that Platner categorically denied. At the same time, scrutiny intensified over a tattoo recognised as a Nazi symbol, which Platner said he obtained without understanding its meaning and later covered up. Old Reddit posts resurfaced in which he used homophobic slurs and appeared dismissive of military sexual assault. Platner responded with a mixture of contrition and defiance, openly discussing what he described as a troubled period marked by untreated PTSD and alcohol abuse following m