Also, Platner now has more US Senators and unions endorsing him than Mills does.

Platner: U.S. senators endorsing:

Martin Heinrich, New Mexico (2013–present)
Chris Murphy, Connecticut (2013–present)
Bernie Sanders, Vermont (2007–present) (Independent)
Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island (2007–present)

Labor unions endorsing Platner:

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers

Maine State Nurses Association

United Auto Workers


Mills: U.S. Senators endorsing:

Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada (2017–present)
Chuck Schumer, New York (1999–present)
Kirsten Gillibrand, New York (2010–present)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_Senate_election_in_Maine

Right now, they're quite content to let him win the primary by riding the tides of disgust at "mainstream" Democrats. Once he wins the primary, all those things that were/are seen as problematic about his candidacy will be brought into sharp focus by the Collins campaign; when we won't sufficiently vet our candidates, the Republicans are always happy to help out with that. If Platner wins it'll be a nail-biter, and once he's seated he could easily turn into another Fetterman, or something even worse.

This is way more complicated than the current polling suggests.

the oldest ever first time elected US Senator should she win, and she also has multiple problematic stances.

For instance she is pro filibuster, she is anti-decriminalisation for small personal use amounts of drugs, is anti red-flag laws for guns, she has vetoed collective bargaining rights (so anti-union), vetoed wealth taxes, vetoed protections for renters, and vetoed some tribal sovereignty laws, etc.

Platner simply has a lot of baggage that can be used against him, as you stated. Very problematic that he was not vetted better.

I so wish the people of Maine (and by extension all Democrats nationwide) had a better viable third Democratic candidate option to chose over those two.

does that mean you think Republicans should get rid of it now????

Or promote white supremacists on social media?

In the unlikely event he's telling the truth that he "didn't know" it was a Nazi totenkopf tattoo... that ALONE should disqualify him. He expects voters to believe he has the intelligence needed for the job, but he fails a simple history lesson with his choice of tattoos. Ugh. Maine deserves better. The US Senate deserves better.

but now he strikes me as another Fetterman. God help us all.

And I would hardly call him "progressive".

Can see the train wreck 50 miles away.

He has a past history of having a Nazi tattoo that he has now “covered up”.

This election season’s Manchema/Fetterman candidate.

I'll restate and hope you answer this time. The two are mutually exclusive.

What is wrong with being anti-war by any person alive, deceased, or any political affiliation?

Also saying one is antiwar doesn't mean one is antiwar. For example Trump wants a Novel Peace prize and just started a war. Stew Peters is against the war because he's antisemitic. He's a communications director for one of the self proclaimed militia groups involved in January 6th.

And then there's if you've had a nazi tattoo, been on an antisemitic podcast, and have a long history of saying really offensive things on the Internet, you stop getting the benefit of the doubt about things like this.

The fact that he chooses to quote a neo-Nazi, given his history, is a bad sign (no, not proof) that he may be still following those people.

No Nazi-lover should be considered a Democrat.

On DU of all places.

If he is elected, we will have another Fetterman in our mist. Fetterman campaigned as a strong labor union supporter as well, was all bombastic and motivated voters. We all know how this ended.

Last edited Fri Feb 27, 2026, 07:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Chasing down a black guy jogging and holding him at gun point because he thought he heard gunshots (they were fireworks) and then refusing to apologize for it?

We should not be so quick to ignore the red flags with Platner like we did with Fetterman.

It seems he would rather you believe he’s an idiot.

When something like this strains credulity, I apply the “lying or telling the truth” test.

He’s either lying when he says he was too stupid to know he had a nazi tattoo on his chest, or he’s telling the truth when he says he was too stupid to know he had a nazi tattoo on his chest.

Either way…

Janet Mills is 78 years old! SEVENTY EIGHT! Who starts a completely new, high pressure job at 78?!?

Oh, excuse me, she will be 79 when sworn in!

There's a difference between agism and simple common sense.

Platner is in some ways extremely goofy, and he's a Class A rake-stepper. He also seems like somebody who will bro out with MAGAs because that's what "normal working class dudes do," and similar Fettermanisms. But jeez, enough already with the 80 year-olds starting new jobs. Pass the damn torch, people.

compared with what a lot of us deal with in our jobs on a daily basis.

I don't see her running for leadership, but I am happy for a healthy 78-year-old to keep the seat warm and cast D votes on important bills (and Senate Majority Leader selection), rather than electing someone who either was (is?) a Nazi, or is too stupid to know what his tat signified.

He has a Nazi tattoo, is a rape apologist and a misogynist.

Collins is a fossil too. Guy has warts but he isn't ancient like those two.

The Senate? Hardly.

From the Portland Press Herald

https://www.pressherald.com/2026/02/24/graham-platner-grows-lead-in-u-s-senate-primary-against-gov-janet-mills-poll-shows-2/

Are younger voters telling pollsters that they are more likely to vote?

I don't know why they chose to oversample young voters.

Last edited Fri Feb 27, 2026, 03:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Part of me hopes it’s true and they are that engaged.

Also note this:

So their recent track record in tracking the actual vote is godawful

not even close. If I lived in Maine, I'd vote for him in a second over the alternatives in the primary and general.

Feeling a bit lucky (for once) to have the choices available to me here in NC.

Roy all the way.

Maybe someone noticed.

Some of you guys would argue that maybe it's better to elect a guy like Charlie Kirk (or whomever has replaced him now) for example or a similar kind of nazi than an older person.

Considering Age to be a factor over everything else when choosing a candidate is idiotic.

Platner has a shady past, given plenty of signals that he is either incompetent or an actual nazi. He does not have any serious experience or knowledge besides being a loud mouth. The only thing he has going for him is his age.

praises Platner and says she doesn't see "anything like that in Washington". Not encouraging. This feels like a headlong rush to install a headstrong candidate.

did i mention, f*ck Collins
you go Graham

and Mills are the only potential Democratic candidates in the primary for a 6 yar term in the Senate.

Democratic voters in Maine deserve a better choice of candidates.

well, 29ish

is a guy who made numerous homophobic abs misogynist online comments, promoted a white supremacist on social media and kept a Nazi tattoo until he was called out?

I seriously doubt he was the DNC's idea, so no he wasn't their answer to Collins. But were they asking the question?

He appears to be happening at a time, and with a message, that resonates with a lot of Mainers. I don't get it, but I don't live there

And an upstart popular with social media and younger people? I guess they can add a state legislator or popular county executive but the governor is a pretty strong candidate.

Good idea to know donors as long as our politics require so much money for a campaign.

The article below has a lot more details:



If a person is, at the end of the day, a Never-Platner Dem primary voter, they surely must be very frustrated that the only other option has come down to Schumer's main choice, the far from inspiring moderate Mills.

Mills will be 85yo at the end of her first term, she would be the oldest-ever 'first time elected' US Senator in US history should she win, and she also has multiple problematic stances.

For instance (as I stated above, upthread) she is pro filibuster, she is anti-decriminalisation for small personal use amounts of drugs, is anti red-flag laws for guns, she has vetoed collective bargaining rights (so is anti-union to a degree), vetoed wealth taxes, vetoed protections for renters, and vetoed some tribal sovereignty laws, etc. She also polls worse (atm) against Collins than Platner.

Platner himself has some real problems (as relentlessly pointed out on DU by some) that Collins and the RW dark money will no doubt drop tens of millions of dollars to hammer him with in the general should he win the Dem primary.

It is a shame, IMHO, that the Maine Dems could not recruit a better candidate than these two. They had one (again IMHO), in Jordan Wood, but he dropped out to run for the US House in ME-2 when Jared Golden announced he was not running for re-election.

Step aside. The actuarial tables are undefeated.

We are literally willing to nominate a man with a Nazi tattoo who called rural people racist and stupid to avoid the apparently crime of being old. Well done voters.

and decades of caving to the GOPs and party corporate centrists

and done with geriatric candidates. Just read the comments of the various news articles. They don't CARE about Platner's warts. They want a new, young, FRESH voice: period. He'll beat Colins by 5 pts. minimum.

CNN reported that in a Reddit post in 2020 Platner responding to a thread 'white people aren't as racist or stupid as trump thinks', he responded with “Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are.” How well will that play in Maine?

I would bet Republican are salivating for Platner to win the primary. I wouldn't doubt they are pushing for him to win. You think they want Collins up against Mills? Hard to frame Mills as a radical with an electorate that has voted for Collins since 1996.