Dems Reckon With the Platner Oppo

Graham Platner
Graham Platner, in Portland, Maine, May 2026. Photo: Sophie Park/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Leigh Ann Caldwell
June 1, 2026

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D.C. Democrats are fretting that their best chance in decades to unseat Maine Sen. Susan Collins is being jeopardized by new reporting that Graham Platner sexted with women who aren’t his wife. With one week until the primary, multiple Democrats have described a sense of resignation that Platner—who weathered an earlier storm about a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol and Reddit posts that were racially and sexually offensive—is the only candidate they’ve got. (Gov. Janet Mills, who dropped out of the primary last month amid low poll numbers and weak fundraising, reminded Mainers that she had merely suspended her campaign and that her name remains on the ballot.) Platner is expected to meet with some Democratic senators during a fundraising swing in Washington this week, Axios first reported.