Why Maine Matters More than people may think (and why Platner needs to go.)
Posted by Sia on July 7, 2026, 5:19 pm ADMIN
Why Maine Matters More than people may think (and why Platner needs to go).
By Amber Phillips
To take back the Senate, Democrats almost certainly need to beat Sen. Susan Collins (R) in Maine. Yet their candidate, Graham Platner, is under pressure from party leaders to drop out after a sexual assault allegation leveled at him this week by a woman he previously dated — an allegation he denies.
“We needed everything to go just exactly perfectly to be able to flip the Senate,” said senior Democratic strategist Jim Manley, “and this isn’t going to help.” Here’s why Maine matters and what Democrats can still do.
Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, meaning Democrats need an overall gain of four seats to take control. Because not every Senate seat is up for election in November, Democrats are facing some daunting challenges to win enough races to retake the majority.
Democrats need to defend seats in the competitive swing states of Michigan and Georgia, then beat Republicans in Maine and North Carolina, and then win at least two races in redder states such as Ohio, Alaska, Texas or Iowa.
Donald Trump won most of these states in the 2024 presidential race. In some states, such as Texas, Democrats haven’t won a Senate race in decades.
Maine is different. The state voted for Kamala Harris for president in 2024, and Democrats are trying to unseat Collins at a time when the Republican brand under Trump is deeply unpopular.
"There’s virtually no path back to the majority for Democrats without defeating … Collins,” wrote Jessica Taylor, who analyzes Senate and governor races for the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. How Democrats ended up with Platner as their nominee in such a crucial state
Platner already was facing allegations that he sent sexually explicit text messages to women while married, had volatile relationships with women and had a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol that he has since covered up.
Up until now he has been combative in the face of the allegations, acknowledging he went through a period of “darkness” when he returned from combat tours in Iraq. But his tone has changed with this sexual assault allegation.
Manley blamed the party’s populist wing for pushing Platner, a rural oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran, when Gov. Janet Mills (D) was also running and had proved she could win statewide. (She dropped out just before the Democratic primary). Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) were some of Platner’s most high-profile supporters earlier this year.
Outsiders are certainly having a moment in Democratic politics; they’ve recently toppled sitting lawmakers in New York and Colorado in primaries. Some Democrats championed Platner’s roughness, saying voters found it fresh.
“The left was willing to overlook his obvious flaws,” Manley said, “and now it’s come to blow up in all of our faces.” What Democrats can do next
Platner denies the sexual assault allegation but said he was “mindful of the political reality” that the reporting will “inflict” on his campaign. It’s possible that he will drop out of the race.
It’s not clear who might replace him, my Washington Post colleagues report. One Democratic pollster said that hours after the revelations, she was approached about helping poll for potential replacements. Under Maine law, Platner has to decide on the race by Monday: withdraw and Democrats can slot in a replacement by July 27, or dig in and leave them running a wounded nominee against Collins.
It would be a huge forfeit for Democrats in an election season that had been lining up well for them. Several of Trump’s major policies are unpopular, including tariffs and his signature tax-and-spending law, which Senate Republicans helped pass.
“Even red states aren’t safe when you see a president whose numbers have dropped as much as Trump’s have,” Taylor said in an interview earlier this year.
Poorly handled from the first, and a win for the Hillary wing. Hope they can beat the wretched Collins, who seems to want to die in the Senate and is the absolute slave of the Party. Her fake 'I'm liberal -no wait, I'm not!' tease was old years ago. SAY ‘NO’ TO WAR! RESIST!
Vetting process lacks time to be efficient or complete
Just like Biden's DoJ ran out of time to prosecute the felon due to Garland's inexcusable slowness to act, Platner should have been vetted MONTHS ago when the Dems had a pool of contenders. Now their up against a clock and a truly feckless pos Collins. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
She was killing it for months until Platner jumped ahead after major endorsements by prominent Democratic Socialists like Bernie and AOC. They've pulled them since news broke.
Its either 13 July or August and 30 July or August. Platner needs to withdraw IMMEDIATELY.You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
Agreed! He has almost ZERO chance of beating Susan Collins.
His previously known baggage was only tolerated because he was a war veteran, had a great platform for political reforms, blamed his awful behavior on diagnosed PTSD, and was highly popular against Collins, leaving him likely to beat her.
He will most certainly lose now and the dull and boring Governor, Janet Mills, may NOW be far more popular than she was before all of this was exposed. She may be dull & have a boring story, but she is solid and has no perceived skeletons to blow up her campaign.
I was never keen on him BECAUSE of his known history, but figured he was preferable to keeping Colli
so hoped he'd turn out to be better than he seemed and beat Collins.
Plus, I wouldn't have to hold MY nose to vote for him, so figured it was up to Maniacs to vote for him or not.
No more. I want him OUT and permanently out of politics. His kind is unwanted no matter what his public platform may be. People like him are not to be trusted or supported.
He NEVER should have gotten as far as he did because where there’s smoldering piles and active fires everywhere already, you can expect larger blazes to start.
He was a seriously flawed candidate who was getting support from Collins haters anyway, so the Dems backed him figuring they already knew his warts & pimples that he'd blamed on PTSD, ignorance, and youthful mistakes. They didnt know that multiple additional women, who'd believed his known history would stop him winning, would reluctantly speak up AFTER it.
Victims of sexual assault are loathe to speak out publicly because people are inclined to disbelieve and accuse them of being liars, especially when they accuse "popular" men or public figures. It's the nature of sexual assault by men known to them for others to doubt them, assume sour grapes, or suspect political or financial motives.
Everything that he is currently being accused of FITS his own admitted profile of being a violent, drunken, current, and cheating womanizer who blames everything on his PTSD from multiple tours during war.
His popularity caused many to ignore his history, assuming they knew it all and could accept it if he could unseat Susan Collins.
Also, ASIDE of his terrible history, he was the perfect progressive candidate with a vision
However, when more than one CREDIBLE accusations of sexual assault are revealed, no one in their right mind (aside of MAGAts) sticks with a candidate for whatever position (s)he is seeking.
Unfortunately, that's exactly what has happened here. His accusers didn't just NOW make these claims. They were made years ago both verbally to friends and family as well as posted on social media to several more in the women's social circles. Only now have they told reporters about it, reluctantly for the reasons I outlined earlier about what happens to women who make claims about men they've been in relationships with, whether intimate or not. It can get brutal as we all well know.
I blame him but also those who jumped on his bandwagon without questioning if there was more than just his violent behavior and repeated RECENT explicit sexting of multiple women while both married AND running for office -- since it seemed quite likely there very well might be.
Obviously, there was and it has now blown up in their faces.
platform was significantly progressive, which appealed to Maine voters. Tgey did so in SPITE of the known baggage and red flags.
Unfortunately, AOC & Bernie quickly climbed onto his bandwagon, unaware of the depth of that baggage and the DNC abandoned Gov. Mills in favor of him. It happens!
I'm just GLAD that those women who finally spoke up did so in time to get someone else on the ballot. Too often, it happens when it's too late.
unfortunate they basically got sucked in by the guy, and then actively promoted him. They quickly dumped him when the info came out!
They happened to be the major voices along with Mandami, simply because Platner's platform was so progressive and popular in Maine.
Still, ultimately the ENTIRE DNC jumped on board, ignoring and excusing red flags, because he was SO popular.
Is something wrong? You seem to have a bug up your butt today. You've been pretty quick to get confrontational, jumping to judgment, instead of simply talking things out.
"Unfortunately, AOC & Bernie quickly climbed onto his bandwagon, unaware of the depth of that baggage..."
Given your own past support of the Establishment I took that as unfair criticism. But you never admitted to being unfair to Bernie. did you?
Sorry if I've disagreed with anyone, I didn't realize we were in an echo chamber...smh SAY ‘NO’ TO WAR! RESIST!
WOW. I didn’t blame them. I said it was an unfortunate mistake because they didn't KNOW
Posted by Sia on July 8, 2026, 8:34 pm, in reply to "You said this" ADMIN
the extent of the baggage.
I have NEVER supported the DEM "establishment". I am NOT a Democrat and never have been. I am an Independent Liberal bleeding heart.
However, I DID support Bernie in 2016 until it seemed to me that he would lose to trump and that HRC, whom I have LONG detested, was more likely to win.
Also, NO ONE expects anyone else to agree with anything they don't agree with
Behind her lies a bloody trail due to her treachery. Every once in a while, you get a glimpse of it on her face. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
on July 7, 2026, 5:19 pm
