When Graham Platner’s campaign team was scheduling his town hall in Brewer in August, they thought a room meant for 50 people would be enough. But when the event was held Thursday night, more than 650 people filled the gravel lot outside Food and Medicine in Brewer.
This isn’t the first event the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Sullivan has held that exceeded his campaign’s expectations.
Mainers have flocked in the hundreds to see him speak across the state.
Platner has held events from Portland to Caribou, in venues ranging from the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland to local pizza shops. At recent appearances, crowds have overflowed to hear Platner speak about wealth inequality, health care and his plan to unseat five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
The crowd in Brewer was no different.
Attendees varied in age, background and how far they’d traveled to see the candidate, but multiple people said they came to the town hall because they had seen Platner’s campaign ads but wanted to see him in person.
Jake Kingdon, 21, was one of four University of Maine students who came in a group after seeing Platner’s videos on social media.
“We’ve all seen the Instagram clips of him, so we just wanted to hear him speak in person. We have an hour of our time and wanted to come show our support,” Kingdon said.
Kingdon, along with the other three UMaine students, said they didn’t know how many people had attended Platner’s previous events and didn’t expect such a large crowd in Brewer. They did know about Platner’s stances on health care and how he spoke and acted optimistically, something they said made them want to show their support.
“He’s shown compassion and empathy from what I’ve seen, and that’s something we’re lacking,” Kingdon said.
Gloria Kelleher, 74, said she’s seen the U.S. Senate candidate’s ads on Facebook and “wanted to see more” for herself.
She had seen his ads but came to the event to hear his stances and better understand what he was running for.
Kelleher, who lives in Plymouth, said she is frustrated with how Collins represents her and the state of Maine and wants to see a change.
“I’m tired of our representatives not representing us,” she said.
Platner spoke on Thursday in an outdoor space next to the room his campaign originally booked for the event, which would have held less than 10% of the crowd that turned out on Thursday.
That was in August, before more than 6,500 people attended a rally in Portland where Platner spoke alongside U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Maine gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson.
Since then, Mainers have turned out in droves for Platner’s appearances.
“All of this is far beyond anything any of us on the team could have dreamed of,” Platner said after the town hall in Brewer. “But it really does give proof to the concept, which is that this kind of very clear working-class politics is what people want. It’s what people have wanted for a long time, and now that it’s here, people are turning out in droves and showing up for it.”