Oysterman Graham Platner won the Democratic Primary to challenge GOP Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, beating back a wave of controversies to get the party’s nod in a must-win race.Platner defeated Gov. Janet Mills and professor David Costello to win the nomination.Platner, a progressive, launched to fame last summer with a viral launch video promising to take on the “oligarchy” and has run hard against President Donald Trump’s war with Iran. But a series of scandals — including years-old offensive Reddit posts and more recent reports he sent sexual messages to other women while married — have taken the sheen off his image and thrown his ability to beat Collins into doubt.Collins, who is running for a sixth term in the Senate and has a powerful post at the head of the Appropriations Committee, has defied Democratic dreams of ousting her in the past, though a sharply anti-Republican political environment this year has Democrats hopeful.Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and Democrats must win Maine – a blue state that backed former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 by a seven-point margin – in order to have any realistic shot of taking back Congress’s upper chamber. RelatedSusan Collins2026 electionsgraham platner