Democrat Graham Platner and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) are headed toward what is expected to be one of the most closely watched Senate races of 2026 after both candidates secured their respective nominations Tuesday night.Platner advanced in the Democratic primary with 74.7% of the vote and 10% of ballots counted, according to the Associated Press as of 9:23 p.m. Tuesday night.The matchup will test whether Collins’s carefully cultivated brand as an independent Republican can withstand growing Democratic anger toward President Donald Trump and whether Platner’s anti-establishment appeal can overcome a steady stream of personal controversies that have threatened to derail his candidacy.
Platner, a 41-year-old Marine veteran and oysterman, emerged from the Democratic primary after Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign in April, effectively clearing the path for his nomination. Collins cruised to renomination as she seeks a sixth term that would make her Maine’s longest-serving member of the Senate.
The race immediately becomes one of Democrats’ top pickup opportunities in a cycle that could determine control of the Senate. Collins is the only Republican senator representing a state carried by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024, and national Democrats have long viewed Maine as one of the few places where a moderate Republican incumbent could be vulnerable in the Trump era. But Collins has repeatedly defied political gravity.
