Graham Platner won the Maine Democratic Senate primary despite the scandal

BLUE HILL, Maine – He was facing one of the most difficult steps in his bid for the United States Senate, but Graham Platner on Tuesday clinched the Democratic Party’s Senate nomination.

Platner, a military veteran and oyster farmer backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, defeated two long-shot rivals in Maine’s Democratic Senate primary, the Associated Press reported.

The troubled Platner, who faces many controversies, will now challenge moderate Republican incumbent Susan Collins, who was unopposed for the GOP nominationin left-leaning Maine in the midterm elections. The race is one of several across the country that will determine whether the GOP retains control of its slim Senate majority.

Platner, who represents a populist economic agenda as he aims to influence the company and advocate for the working class, has also been the frontrunner for two-term Gov. Janet Mills of the Democratic Alliance in the primary. The governor’s name remained on the ballot even though Mills, a longtime supporter of Democratic Senate Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the campaign arm of Senate Democrats, dropped his bid earlier this spring after trailing Platner heavily in fundraising and polling.

TEN RACES TO TEST THE GREATNESS OF THE SENATE

“We’re going to win in November and we’re going to give power back to the people of this country,” Platner predicted Sunday night, at his last rally before the primary.

Platner has been playing defense for the past month, amid several controversies. They include inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered tattoo on his chest that resembles a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he shared sexually explicit text messages with several women while married, and new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner called the latest allegations of violence untrue.

On Monday, the day before the primary, a senior Planter campaign staffer wrote in the Washington Post that Planter “is not a good person for Maine or the country.”

While the growing controversy has caused some Democrats in the state capital to question whether Platner is doomed, the candidate this past weekend thanked Maine voters for their continued support.

“When the hurtful things I said on the Internet a decade ago went public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and the darkness of recovery and accountability and growth. Maine had my back,” Platner said at a Friday meeting not far from his hometown in Down East Maine. “Now, with all the pieces of that past and journey dug up, tried, and armed, you hold me personally. And when I am accused of serious, serious and false accusations against me. Maine, you have my back.”

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: ‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY LAND’

Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to supporters at a rally in Bar Harbor, Maine, on June 5, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Platner, who has admitted his battle with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from his three tours of duty in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after some of them made headlines last fall shortly after launching his book. Senate campaign.

And Platner said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with other Croatian Marines. He said he covered the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. But new allegations from an ex-girlfriend raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding the tattoo experience.

Khanna, who scheduled Friday’s meeting with Platner, was asked by Fox News Digital if he was concerned if the current allegations, or any future ones, could sink Platner’s campaign and hurt Democrats’ hopes of winning the Senate.

“I am very concerned about making it clear that we do not agree with disrespecting women, that relationship was toxic and has not changed, there is no reason for that,” said Khanna. “I spoke to Graham and he says he was in a very dark time, he was coming back from his job in Iraq as a young man seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY INFORMED WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

But Khanna added that Platner said he “really grew as a person when he went back to Maine and he was an oyster farmer and he found peace and shame at that time. To me that suggests that people take responsibility and improve their lives and we need that liberation in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should tax the billionaires, we should focus on the working class.”

Maine voters Fox News spoke to before the convention were divided on whether Platner’s arguments would affect their opinions of the candidate.

Jeff from Waterboro, Maine said “it’s not a good situation” as he pointed to Platner. “I think he’s a person who shouldn’t be in trouble. I’m a conservative person, but he still has a lot of damage. If the Democrats want to have a winner, they’re going to have to find someone else. He’s not a boy. It’s too much.”

Ellen of Acton, Maine, who said she was a registered Republican, said, “Are you a complete person? No, no.”

But he added, “I think he’s going to come in and do a good job.”

Collins, you’re coming back in Maine on Friday after a busy week on Capitol Hill where he reached a milestone by casting his 10,000th consecutive Senate vote, he was asked by reporters about the latest allegations against Platner.

“The allegations in the latest story are troubling,” Collins replied. “And I believe Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.”

WATCH: DEM SENATORS DEBATE PUTTING PLATNER AS SUPERINTENDENT COMMANDER IN LAST DAYS BEFORE PRIMARY

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine visits a food bank in Harrison, Maine, on May 5, 2026. The food bank was able to expand thanks to federal funding that the senator helped secure. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Platner is facing a lot of political fire from Republican parties. A super PAC affiliated with Collins has been blasting Platner, running ads highlighting his many controversies.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) accused Platner of “fraud.”

“He preaches about living a small but noble life growing up in Maine. Really? Graham Platner is an elitist whose parents sent him to boarding school in Connecticut and bought him a house,” NRSC wrote.

And the Republican National Committee (RNC) also targeted Platner.

“Graham Platner says his violent and mysterious past has ‘equipped’ him to fight. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and ‘rape is about power,'” the RNC research team wrote in X, pointing to recent allegations against the candidate.

Despite the accusations and the incoming fire from the GOP, none of the Democrats who have supported Platner have withdrawn their endorsements.

“We need to be united and realize that the goal is to defeat Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is united in that goal,” Khanna told Fox News Digital.

Platner has drawn large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest, and Democrats see Maine as a key photo opportunity as they aim to regain the Senate majority.

But beating Collins won’t be easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls predicted the senator would lose, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by beating Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.

Collins, a moderate Republican who has often voted against President Donald Trump’s agenda, is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate.

The senator voted to acquit Trump of his second impeachment trial, in 2021 shortly after the Jan. 6 in the US Capitol. And early last year he vetoed the confirmation of now Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM

But he is also remembered for his 2018 vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, which ultimately helped the court’s dissenting majority overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade had legalized abortion throughout the country.