PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Graham Platner has attracted a following of enthusiastic supporters and been confronted with a string of controversies as he has transformed from a political unknown into the leading Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in one of the year’s most critical races.Platner is running in Tuesday’s primary for the chance to face longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a contest that Democrats see as a must-win as the party tries to claim control of the Senate in November. Platner’s path to the nomination grew easier in late April when Democratic Gov. Janet Mills dropped out citing a lack of money, though her name still appears on the primary ballot because she suspended her campaign late in the race. The only other Democratic candidate is David Costello, a former government official in Maryland who has not campaigned aggressively.
Platner has been dogged by political controversy, including sexually explicit text messages he reportedly sent to women while he was married and former girlfriends’ claims that he could be demeaning toward women. His background has made some Democrats anxious about their chance to flip the important seat.
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He said during an event days before Tuesday’s primary that he wants to “take this seat back for working Mainers” by beating Collins.“We can build a government by working people, for working people,” he said during a rally Friday in Bar Harbor. “We need to build a world in which everyone in this country has the time to live up to their full potential.”
