Democrat Graham Platner is gearing up to be his party’s champion in the fight to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins this November.
That comes as the Sullivan oyster farmer feels — in the words of his campaign manager, Ben Chin — “emboldened” after back–to–back polls gave him commanding leads in the Democratic primary, according to Axios.
On Monday, Axios reported that Platner’s campaign is making the case to donors that the primary is all wrapped up for him.
That pivot includes withdrawing an ad responding to attacks from term-limited Gov. Janet Mills over Platner’s old inflammatory Reddit posts, according to Axios. Instead, Platner, who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, is shifting his focus to Collins, including a new ad linking her to President Donald Trump’s war against Iran.
“Donald Trump and Susan Collins have sent us back into another war, sending billions overseas. In the Senate, I’ll focus on the wars many families are facing here at home, bringing down costs, improving our schools, and keeping hospitals open,” he said in the ad.
While Platner has positioned himself as an anti-war candidate, his comments over the years reflect mixed emotions, ranging from enthusiasm to regret more recently, according to the Portland Press Herald.
“It is up to Democratic voters to pick the Democratic candidate — our campaign will be prepared to run a substantive, issues-oriented campaign regardless of who the opponent is,” a spokesperson for the Collins campaign said in a statement.
In a Tuesday morning statement, the Mills campaign touted her track record winning “tough battles,” including being the only Democrat to win a statewide race in 20 years.
“Republicans are foaming at the mouth to run against Graham Platner and are prepared to put hundreds of millions of dollars behind ads on his never-ending controversies like blaming surviors for their own rape, calling rural Mainers racist and stupid or wearing a Nazi tattoo for 20 years. Plenty of people have tried to count Janet Mills out in her career, and they’ve been wrong every time,” spokesperson Tommy Garcia said.
Old Town native David Costello also is vying for the Democratic nomination.
The insurgent candidate who stormed onto the political scene last year came under fire last fall over unearthed inflammatory internet posts and revelations that he had a chest tattoo depicting a skull superimposed over crossbones, resembling the Totenkopf symbol adopted by the Nazi SS during World War II.
Platner denied knowing that his tattoo was a Nazi symbol. He got the tattoo in 2007 while deployed abroad with the U.S. Marines. While on leave, Platner and other Marines went to Croatia, where they got “very inebriated” and decided to get tattoos. He said that they all picked “terrifying” designs off the wall.
He has since gotten it covered.
Platner has tried to distance himself from his past internet posts, including numerous deleted posts in which Platner asked why Black people “don’t tip” and suggesting that women concerned about rape not drink around certain people, among others.
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It will be an uphill battle for Democrats to unseat Collins, who officially announced her historic bid for a sixth term in February. She has handily beaten back challengers, including in 2020 when she defied polls and expectations to secure a fifth term in the Senate. But Collins, who has been ranked the country’s most bipartisan senator, has seen her popularity slump since Republican President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.
Republicans are largely aligned with Collins, who commanded 67% support among likely primary voters, according to the University of New Hampshire’s February Pine Tree State Poll.
The Senate race is shaping up to be an expensive one, with the Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, pledging to spend at least $42 million to help Collins defend her seat. If Collins is successful in winning a sixth term, she would be Maine’s longest-serving U.S. senator.