Democrats are increasingly nervous that Graham Platner, the oyster farmer turned Maine Senate candidate, is becoming a serious liability in a race they view as essential to reclaiming the Senate majority. Platner faces a string of damaging revelations—including sexually explicit messages, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, and allegations of problematic behavior from ex-girlfriends—that have shifted the spotlight from incumbent Susan Collins to his own record.
Allegations Mount
In the past week, Platner has confronted a sexting scandal involving messages sent to women while married, followed by a New York Times report detailing accounts from former girlfriends who described him as rough, violent in conversation, and struggling with alcohol. Lyndsey Fifield, a conservative who dated Platner from 2013 to 2015, told the Times he discussed violence and was physically rough, though she said he never hit or punched her. She also claimed Platner knew his now-covered tattoo was a Totenkopf, a Nazi symbol, before the controversy erupted last year.
Platner has vehemently denied any physical misconduct and insisted he did not know the tattoo's meaning. In a statement to MS NOW, he admitted to being a poor partner during a “dark period” after combat service but rejected the more serious allegations as false.
Democrats' Anxiety Grows
For weeks, Platner held a lead in polls, buoyed by Collins’s vulnerability in a state that has twice rejected Trump. But the cascade of controversies has alarmed party strategists. “There’s no way he’s going to win a referendum on himself,” said Democratic strategist Joel Payne. “He’s got to make sure Maine voters ask, ‘Am I really comfortable with Susan Collins for another six years?’ They’ve lost the thread on that.”
Steve Schale, another Democratic strategist, expressed frustration: “I’m glad I don’t live in Maine, and there are five other viable pick-up opportunities,” pointing to races in North Carolina and Ohio.
Additional Questions
A report from the Maine Monitor and Bangor Daily News also raised doubts about Platner’s claim that he attended private school after his public school lost accreditation. The school has been accredited since 1987; a spokesperson said Platner misspoke. These issues, combined with the new allegations of toxic behavior from ex-girlfriends, threaten to erode voter trust.
Jim Melcher, a political science professor at the University of Maine at Farmington, noted that Platner’s pattern of blaming past troubles doesn’t hold for recent events. “He’s always saying ‘it was a bad period of my life.’ That doesn’t play as well about things that have happened in the last three or four years,” Melcher said. He added that the turmoil has energized Platner’s base but could alienate undecided voters.
Collins’s campaign has seized on the revelations. A recent article detailed Collins calling the allegations “troubling,” while some Democrats, like former presidential candidate Howard Dean, have argued Platner has “disqualified himself.”
Polling Still Tight
Despite the turmoil, polls show a competitive race. A UMass Lowell/YouGov survey taken before the latest allegations gave Platner 48% to Collins’s 43%, while a University of New Hampshire poll had Platner up 9 points. An internal Platner campaign poll showed a 4-point lead, though analyst Nate Silver noted such polls typically exaggerate a candidate’s standing by about 4 points.
Melcher believes Platner will stay in the race, driven by a sense of being wronged. “He feels goaded to stay the course more than anything, because he and his supporters feel they’ve gotten a bad deal,” Melcher said. But with the election still months away, Democrats are watching nervously as what was once a promising pickup opportunity risks slipping away.
