{"id":5137,"date":"2026-07-17T18:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5137"},"modified":"2026-07-17T18:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:35:11","slug":"maine-democrats-running-to-replace-platner-as-senate-nominee-scramble-to-woo-his-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5137","title":{"rendered":"Maine Democrats running to replace Platner as Senate nominee scramble to woo his voters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The tight timeline to replace former Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner has left Democratic hopefuls scrambling to woo his progressive base while trying to turn the focus from the disgraced oysterman to defeating Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Judges ask Congress for power to fix crumbling courthouses<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a delicate balance for the candidates, who are vying to face Collins in a contest that could decide control of the Senate as Platner\u2019s shadow hangs over the race. In their first debate Thursday night, one of the first questions candidates were asked was: What was Graham Platner\u2019s best idea?<\/span><\/p>\n

Moving past Platner is just one of the challenges facing Democrats. The never-before-used process to pick a new nominee means candidates have less than three weeks to pull off what typically takes campaigns months or years, from organizing volunteers to raising money and preparing for debates.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The whiplash many of the candidates are facing was on display Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked by debate moderators about President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to capture Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife earlier this year, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows gave inaccurate information about Collins not pushing back against Trump, a Republican. When a moderator called her on it, Bellows said she was on vacation on the Kennebec River last week after previously focusing on her unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign and hadn\u2019t expected to be running for the Senate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I need to know the facts, I will. I\u2019ll do my homework,\u201d said Bellows, who lost to Collins in 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n

The field of 12 candidates also includes former public health leader Nirav Shah and union-backed logger Troy Jackson, who campaigned alongside Platner in a failed bid for governor.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Platner\u2019s exit means the clock is ticking<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Platner quit the Senate race last week after he was accused of rape, which he denies, and his campaign quickly imploded as supporters revoked their endorsements and resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats have until July 27 to choose a new nominee, according to state law. The Maine Democratic Party\u2019s succession plan calls for a state party convention at which 601 delegates will meet on July 25 and vote for Platner\u2019s replacement. The majority of the convention delegates will be selected this weekend from each of the state\u2019s 16 counties.<\/span><\/p>\n

Candidates hoping to replace Platner have been recruiting delegates who will vote for them at the convention. The candidates also must collect 500 voter signatures needed to qualify for the convention vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s happy that we\u2019re in this situation,\u201d said Dan Jenkins, a Maine Democrat who has applied to be a delegate. \u201cWe would have preferred that this had broken many, many months ago and then Graham had exited the race when there was a time for a democratic process. But it\u2019s where we are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Some candidates might see a boost from prior campaigns<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Jackson is among the handful of candidates pivoting to the Senate race after running for other political offices, likely giving them a leg up in not having to launch from scratch.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Revolution, a progressive organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that had originally backed Platner, has thrown its support behind Jackson, the former Maine Senate president. Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, has not endorsed in the race.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shah, former director of Maine\u2019s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also unsuccessfully ran in this year\u2019s Maine Democratic governor\u2019s primary. He has been pitching Platner\u2019s supporters that he\u2019s also an outsider who can unify a fractured Democratic Party.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have an important place in this campaign, and we welcome your voices,\u201d Shah said earlier this month speaking to Platner\u2019s base.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bellows also ran for governor. She\u2019s hoping that her previous battles with Trump will bolster her argument that she\u2019ll be an advocate for the working class.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s envoy faces protests in Venice on latest stop of super yacht diplomacy tour<\/a><\/p>\n

Bellows previously tried to unseat Collins in 2014 as the Senate Democratic nominee and lost to her in a landslide. She later went on to win a seat as a state senator before becoming Maine\u2019s secretary of state. She\u2019s since downplayed her prior loss to Collins by pointing to the Democratic establishment\u2019s unwillingness to take on the Republican in 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another candidate, Jordan Wood, initially announced his intent to run in the Maine Democratic Senate primary. He dropped out last fall to run in the state\u2019s 2nd District but lost that race.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Candidates seize on recent ICE shooting <\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The fatal shooting by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maine this week has been top of mind among the potential Senate nominees.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Embassy of Colombia has identified the man killed Monday in Biddeford, roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Portland, as Johan Sebasti\u00e1n Dur\u00e1n Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national. The Department of Homeland Security has since said an ICE officer fired his weapon when the man officers were pursuing attempted to flee the scene, threatening \u201cpublic safety.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Many have rushed to connect Collins to the embattled federal agency.<\/span><\/p>\n

All the candidates who debated Thursday said they agreed with the call to \u201cabolish ICE,\u201d though Wood stopped short of saying the agency should be completely dissolved.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that when I say we have to abolish it, what I mean is that we need a new law enforcement agency that has the trust of the people,\u201d Wood said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jackson disagreed, calling ICE a \u201crogue agency that goes around doing things that they\u2019re being told to on high.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Candidates asked about Platner\u2019s best ideas<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Platner attracted more than 150,000 votes during the June 9 primary, an eye-opening number that signaled a progressive base eager to support a candidate known for his promise to defend the working class and ability to rally large crowds.<\/span><\/p>\n

With little more than a week until the state convention to find Platner\u2019s replacement, it still remains unknown just who will be able to capture that same excitement seen among Platner\u2019s base.<\/span><\/p>\n

When pressed during Thursday\u2019s debate about Platner\u2019s best idea on the campaign trail, Jackson pointed to his commitment to \u201cMedicare for All.\u201d As a gubernatorial candidate, Jackson also voiced support for replacing job-based and individual private health insurance with a government-run plan that guarantees coverage for all with no premiums, no deductibles and only minimal copays for certain services.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bellows said that she agreed with Platner\u2019s description that democracy in the U.S. has been corrupted by those in power.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shah said he would take up Platner\u2019s commitment to \u201cabolish ICE,\u201d while Wood said he admired Platner\u2019s decision to say that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, something Israel denies.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGraham got into this race saying, \u2018this is genocide.\u2019 And I learned that it is so important in these moments to draw those moral lines,\u201d Wood said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Darline Graham weighs running for full Senate term as funeral scheduled for Lindsey Graham<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moving past Graham Platner is just one of the challenges facing Democrats who are vying to challenge Republican Susan Collins in a contest that could decide control of the Senate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nMaine Democrats running to replace Platner as Senate nominee scramble to woo his voters - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5137\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maine Democrats running to replace Platner as Senate nominee scramble to woo his voters - 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