Graham Platner Wins Maine Democratic Senate Primary
Decision Desk HQ projected Graham Platner as the winner of Maine’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday night, with 42 percent of precincts reporting. Platner had a big lead, pulling in 75 percent of the vote.
Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign after Platner began gaining ground in polling and support, stayed on the ballot anyway and finished with 20 percent. David Costello came in third with 7 percent.
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Platner now heads to the general election, where he will take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins. That race is already expected to draw plenty of attention, since the seat could help decide control of the Senate.
His primary win does not erase the baggage around his campaign. Platner has faced steady scrutiny over a chest tattoo bearing a Nazi Totenkopf symbol, which he has said he did not know was a Nazi symbol until the fall of 2025. He has also faced questions over sexually explicit texts sent to as many as a dozen women after his 2023 marriage, plus a Kik profile that was still active when reporters found it.
The criticism did not stop there. The New York Times reported on former girlfriends who described volatile relationships. One of them, Lyndsey Fifield, said Platner “twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out.”
There have also been old sexist and racist Reddit posts, along with questions about how he has described his background. Even so, Platner has kept the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna. Other Democrats, including Sen. John Fetterman, have said the party should move on. Platner thanked his supporters in Maine and said he would keep fighting as the race moves toward November.