Overview
- Platner captured roughly 70 percent of the vote to win the Democratic primary, a result voters delivered Tuesday that makes him the party’s official nominee for the November Senate race.
- He will face five-term Republican incumbent Susan Collins in November for a seat that national strategists view as pivotal to control of the U.S. Senate.
- Reporting has detailed several personal controversies tied to Platner, including a chest tattoo linked by reporters to SS imagery, old online comments urging women to take responsibility for avoiding assault, allegations from former partners of emotional abuse and infidelity, and reports that he sent sexual messages to multiple women.
- Platner, a 41-year-old former Marine and oyster farmer, has said he struggles with PTSD from multiple deployments and with past alcohol problems and denies knowingly embracing Nazi symbolism while saying he has sought to cover the tattoo.
- Progressive figures and large ad investments continue to back Platner while moderate Democrats warn that the controversies could weaken Democratic turnout and damage other statewide and down-ballot campaigns in Maine, and analysts say further revelations or a targeted attack campaign by Collins could change the race's dynamics.