This story will be updated.
U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner secured the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, withstanding a withering blitz of unflattering revelations and ongoing attempts by Republicans and some Democratic operatives to weaken his candidacy.
A combat veteran and oyster farmer, Platner clinched the nomination at 9:25 p.m. with just 8% of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press.
His victory earns him the right to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins this November in a closely watched contest that could determine control of the U.S. Senate during President Donald Trump's final two years in office.
"We will take back this Senate seat and when we do we will take back our power," he said shortly after the race was called.
Platner also addressed the controversies that have dogged his campaign, acknowledging his personal struggles.
"This is the state that raised me and this is the state that saved me," he said.
"I'm still far from perfect, but everyday I wake up and try to be a little bit better," he added. "If you give me the chance, I will be a senator for the people who cannot afford to buy a seat. I will stand up for you and against the billionaires and greedy corporations."
Despite his victory, Platner is likely to face more questions about his ability to defeat Collins, the only Republican member of the U.S. Senate in New England.
The week preceding the primary was marked by a steady stream of revelations about Platner’s past, once again putting his insurgent candidacy on the defensive and overshadowing his working-class populist message.
Platner has acknowledged his rocky past, attributing much of it to his disillusionment after serving in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also says his political opponents are using it to tear his life apart and to distract from a policy agenda that threatens the political establishment and the movement he’s building.
Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign in late April, finished second in the contest, followed by Brunswick resident David Costello. While Mills has remained mostly quiet during the closing weeks of the campaign, she twice reminded her supporters that her name was still on the primary ballot. Those statements pushed her network of surrogates to openly question Platner’s ability to win in November with some vowing not to vote for him.
The Democratic infighting illustrates how Platner’s campaign has become a proxy fight for the overall direction of the party after Trump secured a second term in 2024. Platner, who was endorsed early by independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, has repeatedly criticized the Democratic establishment, arguing that it’s beholden to corporate and monied interests at the expense of working-class voters.
He struck a similar tone on Tuesday after took the stage at the Downeast YMCA in Blue Hill shortly after the race was called. He criticized the "pundit class" that has tried to frame his candidacy.
"They've tried so hard to understand me, but they fail to understand that this is not about me at all," he said. "This is a movement about us."
But he reserved his sharpest critiques for Collins, taking aim at her moderate image and framing her as a Trump enabler.
Platner burst onto the political scene last August with a viral launching video that highlighted his combat service and focus on taxing the rich and Medicare for all. He immediately drew positive press coverage from national outlets and his barnstorming circuit of town halls and large crowds showed that he had tapped into the disenchantment among Democratic voters irritated by the direction of the party and its recent loss to Trump.
By the time Mills entered the race in mid-October, he had already built a head of momentum. Revelations about offensive social media posts and a now-covered tattoo of Nazi iconography failed to derail his candidacy even after Mills attempted to highlight them this spring. She suspended her campaign April 30, citing a lack of financial support.
Nevertheless, some of Mills' surrogates have continued to question Platner's ability to beat Collins, who has beaten back every Democratic challenger since she was first elected in 1996. Her victory in 2020 was especially stinging for national Democrats, who poured millions into the effort to defeat her. Their strategy in that race — trying to shackle Collins to the unpopular Trump — sputtered in the closing weeks as Collins emphasized her ability to secure federal funding. She's taking the same tack this year.
