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Matthew Camuso was a county volunteer leader for the Graham Platner campaign.
I am writing as someone who has been in and out of politics and campaigns since my first as a college student in 2015. I’ve supported Republicans, Democrats, and independents.
I’m originally from the Boston area (where my very large family still lives) and my wife is from Midcoast Maine and we moved up there ahead of our first son being born.
Recently, I was a county volunteer leader for the Graham Platner campaign.
While there’s been considerable discussion about the Platner campaign, I’d like to refocus our attention on the meaningful insights and achievements we can take from this effort.
Graham’s campaign resonated with voters in remarkable ways. He garnered over 156,000 votes in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary; more than any other Democratic Senate candidate in Maine’s history.
To put that in perspective, the top first-round gubernatorial tallies were nearly 59,000 for Democrat Nirav Shah and just over 49,000 for Republican Bobby Charles.
The Platner campaign successfully built a coalition that crossed party lines, bringing together Democrats and unenrolled voters around shared concerns. I personally helped dozens of independents, unenrolled, and Republicans go through the process to vote for Graham in the primary.
For the general election, our focus was expanding that reach to engage more Republican and first-time voters. The commitment was real: more than 15,000 volunteers contributed their time and energy to ballot initiatives, signature gathering, community organizing, and supporting other Democratic candidates.
The enthusiasm was tangible. Graham held more than 80 town halls, and the energy reflected voters’ genuine connection to his priorities: healthcare as a human right, affordable housing, strong public schools, and dignity for working Mainers across all backgrounds and party affiliations.
As the Maine Democratic Party moves forward with their caucus process, there’s real value in reflecting on what this campaign accomplished and what it teaches us about what resonates with Maine voters.
As has been shared by so many, the campaign was not about a single charismatic yet flawed man, it was a movement by and for Mainers and our friends and family across the country.
I think a lot of the coverage of this campaign — the good and the bad — has been focused on clicks, emotions, and blame. I understand that’s all part of politics, but if we want a better system, and a more engaged constituency, we need things to be less ugly.