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Voters in Maine are split on whether the many controversies that have followed Democrat Graham Platner’s Senate campaign carry enough weight to sway their vote come November.
To some, the off-color remarks about sexual abuse, terror and race — made years before he launched his Senate bid — are simply the fallout of military service and its strain on the mind.
“I think they’re unfortunate, but coming back from a stressful situation like that, I don’t know what the hell I’d say. So, I’m not going to hold it against him,” Joe, a voter from Shapleigh, Maine, told Fox News Digital, alluding to Platner’s history as a Marine.
But to others, the comments speak to a character that should not be given a place in Congress.
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“I think it’s kind of ridiculous. I mean, is that all right to say things like that and be, ‘okay, we’re gonna vote for him?’ I don’t think so,” Tina, a voter from Sanford, Maine, said.
Platner’s many comments have drawn public attention in Maine, where he is poised to become the Democratic nominee to challenge incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. It’s a seat Democrats believe presents a ripe opportunity; a chance to finally knock off a moderate Republican in a Democratic-leaning state.
With two-term Gov. Janet Mills ending her Senate bid late last month, Platner is considered the party’s presumptive nominee and is expected to cruise to the nomination in next month’s primary. Democrats will then have to hope that his past remarks don’t turn enough voters away to inadvertently hand Collins a sixth term.
Collins, who first took the seat in 1997, last won re-election in 2020, defeating Democratic challenger Sara Gideon by a 51.0% to 42.4% margin.
Platner, in one resurfaced Reddit post, once blamed rape victims for failing to protect themselves.
“How about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not so f—ed up when they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?” Platner wrote in 2013.
“If you don’t want to be in a compromising situation, act like an adult for f—s sake.”
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Coupled with an op-ed where he called some terrorists “freedom fighters” and another Reddit post where he called police “bastards,” Marg, a resident from Sanford, Maine, believes the pile of incendiary comments should give voters pause.
“I think it’s horrible. He doesn’t have my vote, that’s for sure. Not only does it weigh on me, it weighs on a lot of other people,” Marg said.
Christine, a voter from Acton, Maine, said the sexual assault comments are particularly troubling.
“I’m a victim of sexual abuse in the past. That comment really struck home. I know people make mistakes — I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I’m just being honest with saying that I’m kind of turned off by it,” Christine said.
To other voters, the comments, while troublesome, aren’t the focus of the election.
“He seems like he’s out for the working man. He is a working man. And he sounds like he’s looking out for us,” Ray, a man from Lebanon, Maine, said.
When pressed on Platner’s comments, Ray doubled down on his support.
“No, it doesn’t matter, he’s still getting my vote,” he told Fox News Digital.
Still, others said that they had come to expect as much from figures running for Congress. Cathy, a resident of Shapleigh, Maine, said the comments wouldn’t weigh on her.
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“Not really, no. I think all politicians do weird stuff,” Cathy said.
Voters in Maine will first decide on their party’s respective nominees through the primary elections on June 9. From there, nominees will face off in the general election on Nov. 3.
Platner apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they first made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.
And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol.
A Republican group supporting Collins is already blasting Platner with a new ad and website that highlight his past controversial comments and his now covered-up tattoo.
The candidate said in a Fox News Digital interview last week that he’s not concerned about the attacks, which are likely just a taste of things to come.
“The Democratic establishment tried to use all those attacks against me and failed miserably,” Platner said as he referred to a spot from the Mills campaign before she dropped out of the race. “Now the Republican establishment is going to try to use the exact same attacks, and that will also fail miserably.”
Platner insisted that “the people of Maine understand exactly what this is. They’re not happy to see millions of dollars poured into negative TV ads in a state that, quite frankly, could use millions of dollars of investment in lots of other things instead of just negative television. And I don’t think it’s going to work, because it hasn’t up until this point.”
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