Meet Graham Platner: The Latest Democratic Dud for Senate | The American Spectator

The Democrats, in preparation for next year’s midterm elections, are seeking to revamp their party’s image to appeal to male and white working-class voters who helped Republicans gain control of Washington in 2024. Enter Graham Platner of Maine, who is having his moment in the Sun. The “rugged guy” progressive populist is looking to do something no Democrat has been able to do — defeat Republican Senator Susan Collins.

The 40-year-old former Marine and oyster farmer from the Pine Tree State is running his first political campaign and looking to ride the wave of anti-Washington sentiment that helped Republicans win in the age of Trump. Platner officially announced he is running for Senate at the end of August and has become an online sensation by raising more than $1 million in his first nine days as a Senate candidate.

Although he objects to being called a “liberal,” Graham Platner is running on a platform that is far left of center. His campaign website released various progressive platforms, such as socialized medicine, reparations for climate change, and ending America’s oligarchy.

His campaign has already recruited established political operatives, such as Morris Katz, a head advisor to the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and Joe Calvello, who was a senior official on Senator John Fetterman’s campaign in Pennsylvania.

Graham Platner’s campaign has gained significant momentum, with a major endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders of nearby Vermont. Their joint “Fight Oligarchy” tour over Labor Day weekend drew a crowd of 6,500 in Portland, Maine, where Platner boldly declared, “The enemy is oligarchy.”

As crazy as it is, it’s just progressive chatter that hyper liberal crowds go wild for, like when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders travel to college campuses and urban areas, whining about how oppressed they are because of the rich and elite. It is something of a “religious revival,” a term used by Kristen Fleming of the New York Post to describe the fervor and emotional intensity often seen at these particular events. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders and AOC Are Not the Answer to the Democrats’ Weaknesses)

Interestingly enough, Graham Platner’s introduction video provides more detail about the forces that plague working-class Americans. It’s the “billionaires” and “corrupt politicians.” He further exclaimed that “People know that the system is screwing them” and that “at least the other side tells people that the system is failing them, that the system doesn’t represent them, that the system was never made for them,” making a dig at Republicans.

There is a wide open lane to be Maine’s Democratic Senate nominee, as big names have passed on taking on Senator Collins. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is trying desperately to recruit the current governor, Janet Mills, who is at the end of her term. Still, if elected, she would be the oldest freshman senator at 78. The Democrat activist class has been looking for a “MAGA like-makeover,” a strategy that aims to replicate the success of the Trump movement in energizing the base, and Graham Planter gives them what they want, a grizzly, plaid-wearing Conor McGregor type who talks like a WWE wrestler. (RELATED: Gavin Newsom Wants To Be Donald Trump So Badly)

However, Platner’s rhetoric may prove to be a stumbling block in his bid for the Senate. Reports from the Washington Free Beacon have unearthed a high school op-ed, written just after 9/11, in which he defended Islamic terrorism, stating, “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” This statement aligns with his current anti-Israel rhetoric, where he has accused Israel of genocide and failed to criticize Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, 2023, effectively positioning himself as a public relations spokesman for Hamas.

Even the New York Times’ glowing up of him couldn’t let his gaffe on attacking Susan Collins slide. The Times reported: “He criticized Ms. Collins for allowing Mr. Trump’s sprawling domestic policy bill to win approval by the Appropriations Committee, then voting against it on the Senate floor. Yet the legislation was not a spending bill, and never went through the committee.” Mainers are known for having a high voter turnout rate and overall good civic participation, so they want senators who understand how the legislative process works.

Currently, Senator Collins is chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the Senate. All signs are pointing to the fact that she will run again, as she currently has the endorsement of AIPAC and has raised more than $6 million for a re-election run. Her approval has dipped, but the latest poll shows her around 50 percent.

She has won the last five elections and has been able to garner enough crossover votes, while still supporting a significant portion of the President’s agenda in the Senate. Her last opponents, Shenna Bellows and State Speaker Sara Gideon, were more established Democrats in 2014 and 2020, respectively, than Planter, and Collins won both races handily. Graham Planter has already earned the reputation as “Maine’s Mamdani” this fall, but Democrats will need to look elsewhere for Senate pickups in 2026.

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