Politics States of Uncertainty
Maine and Montana feature unpredictable U.S. Senate showdowns. By John Gizzi
Populist Challenge to Collins
I
t had seemed that sen. susan Collins, R-Maine, survived her most severe threat to reelection in 2020.
Abandoned by such traditional
backers as Planned Parenthood after voting to confi rm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Collins, a centrist Republican who is pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ, faced Democrat opponent Sara Gideon. Outraised by better than 2-to-1
($48 million-$23 million), Collins was high on everyone’s list of likely losers that year. But she won her fi fth term easily,
51%-42%. Now the longest-serving member
of Congress from Maine, and longest- serving female Republican senator in history, Collins chairs the all-power- ful Appropriations Committee. By all yardsticks, a sixth — and likely fi nal — term should be a cinch. It isn’t. A recent Pan Atlantic
Research survey shows Collins tied with two-term Democrat Gov. Janet Mills, with 44% each.
44 NEWSMAX | MAY 2026 More intriguing is the showing in
the same poll by the other Democrat in the June 9 primary: oyster farmer and political newcomer Graham Platner, who defeats Collins 44%-40%.
HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING? Platner, 41, has been a bartender and harbormaster in his hometown of Sul- livan, Maine. The Marine and Army veteran
served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and worked as a security contractor with the company formerly known as Blackwater — despite a his- tory of protesting the Iraq War at age 18. He has been treated for post-trau- matic stress disorder (PTSD). Not exactly the normal resume for a
Senate candidate. But what has fueled Platner’s seemingly improbable candi-
dacy is an undiluted populist agenda: ending U.S. involvement in all wars abroad, and supporting universal healthcare and housing aff ordability. Although he cites former Democrat presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as a political infl u- ence, Platner abjures the terms “social- ists” or “populist,” and refers to him- self as a “New Deal Democrat.” He lists President Franklin D. Roo-
sevelt and Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, who helped craft Social Secu- rity, as his heroes. Somehow, the message and the
image of an outsider have paid divi- dends for Platner. He has outraised Mills by $2 mil-
lion, and secured the endorsements of Sanders and fellow Democrat Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ruben Gallego of Arizona. All of this occurred as he weath-
ered a series of controversies that led to the resignations of his fi rst campaign manager, political direc- tor, and treasurer. At one point, it was reported that
Platner had a skull-and-crossbones tattoo on his chest that resembled the emblem of a Nazi paramilitary organization. He insisted he was tattooed in Croa-
Collins chairs the all-powerful Appropriations Committee. By all yardsticks, a sixth — and likely fi nal — term should be a cinch.
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