What To Watch For
The seat held by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is one of three rated toss-ups by Cook Political report in this year’s midterms. Democrats need to flip four seats to regain control of the Senate, which is in Republicans’ control.
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Key Background
Democrats rallied around Platner, a political newcomer and former U.S. military veteran, after he entered the race in August and quickly overcame Mills in polls. A series of revelations about Platner’s controversial past have dogged his campaign. Shortly after launching his candidacy, deleted online posts in which he disparaged police, victims of sexual assault and rural voters, and endorsed political violence were unearthed. Platner attributed the comments to his mental state after returning from military service in Afghanistan in 2011. More recently, it was revealed that Platner sent sexually explicit messages to as many as a dozen women early in his marriage. His wife, Amy Gertner, who he married in 2023, flagged the messages to his campaign because she thought they might be a liability, the campaign’s former political director, Genevieve McDonald, told The New York Times. Gertner said their marriage is strong and stood by her husband in the wake of the reports about the messages. Last week, several of Platner’s ex-girlfriends described him as volatile and toxic in a report published by The New York Times. One of the women, Lyndsey Fifield, who has worked for conservative groups and Republicans, said he was physically aggressive toward her at times while drinking. She also said Platner knew that the now-covered tattoo on his chest resembled a Nazi symbol, though he has said he wasn’t aware of its meaning when he got the tattoo in 2007. Platner has acknowledged some of the poor behavior, attributing it to “a pretty dark period” after returning from combat, but denied Fifield’s allegations of physical altercations and knowing about his tattoo.
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further reading
Graham Platner Wins Primary As Controversy Over Troubled Behavior Swirls (Forbes)
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