Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner says ‘Maine had my back.’

Politics admin June 6, 2026 0 Comments

Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner says ‘Maine had my back.’

Coming off a tough week in his bid to unseat longtime Republican US Senator Susan Collins, Maine’s insurgent Democratic candidate, Graham Platner, rallied in Bar Harbor Friday night, shaking off accusations of abusive behavior toward past partners and other perceived missteps as unfortunate moments during dark times after his service in Iraq.

The race is crucial to Democrats’ bid to flip the Senate. Maine voters cast their primary votes Tuesday. Friday’s appearance at the Criterion Theater was Platner’s first appearance at a major campaign rally.

Three women told the the New York Times that they had volatile relationships with Platner.

“Hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth,” Platner said.

“Maine had my back,” he said, “as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back.”

The accusations of Platner’s alleged abuse toward women he had relationships with surfaced after revelations that he had sexted with women outside of his marriage.

The 41-year-old who served in the Marines already has battled backlash for a Nazi tattoo, or Totenkopf, that he has since covered up.

Platner has claimed that he had no idea the skull and crossbones design was a symbol on Nazi uniforms when he was inked in Croatia in 2007 while on shore leave with other service members.

“The state of Maine raised me,” Platner said at Friday’s rally. “And the state of Maine saved me. And all of you out here, Maine, I will always have your back.”

“We are in the fight of our lives.” Platner told the crowd.

Platner criticized Collins’ vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. Collins has said Kavanaugh assured her that he viewed Roe V. Wade as “settled law,” but the justice later voted with the conservative majority to overturn the abortion-rights law in 2022.

“Either she lied to us, or she’s a fool,” Platner said. “Either way, [she] shouldn’t be a United States senator from the State of Maine.”

He chided Collins for not using her role as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee to stop President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” and other spending priorities that he said have hurt working people in Maine and across the country.

Platner, who served two tours in Iraq, faulted Collins for her support of the war. And, most recently, the war in Iran. “Susan Collins hasn’t met a war she didn’t like,” he said.

Ro Khanna, a Democratic US Representative from California, who headlined the rally said, “most of us have not led perfect lives.”

He applauded Platner for his service, two tours, in what he deemed an “immoral war.”

“Now, no one should make excuses for his past relationships,” Khanna said, “some of which were toxic and volatile, and no one on our side should attack the women who came forward.”

Platner has come to understand that those years “were not his best years,” and he harbors shame over some of his actions, Khanna said.

“He’s worked to be a better human being, but we need to have an honest conversation in this country. We broke thousands of young men by sending them into dumb wars,” Khanna said.

Rounding out the Democratic ticket, state senator Troy Jackson, for governor, and state auditor Matt Dunlap, for US Congress, also rallied the crowd Friday.

Maine’s primary election is Tuesday, June 9.