Graham Platner wins the Democratic primary for US Senate in Maine, will face GOP Sen. Susan Collins

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Graham Platner won the Maine Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, setting up a high-stakes race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, has little political experience but has drawn hundreds of people to rallies around the state. He also has faced a string of controversies that have been the focus of attacks from his rivals. Since entering the race, Platner has stressed the importance of believing in redemption for those like him who have made mistakes but are now working to be better people.

“If you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change,” Platner said during his acceptance speech in Blue Hill, a rural town where he was born. “And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it.”

Democrats see Maine as a top opportunity to flip a GOP-held seat. It is the only state with a competitive Senate race where voters supported Democrat Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in 2024. Collins is the only Republican senator from New England.

Platner, a progressive who had early support from Sen. Bernie Sanders, has said he plans to focus on economic issues such as housing and healthcare.

“Any of those who feel let down, or disappointed, or disillusioned, it is my job to earn your trust, faith and support, and I will spend every day of this campaign, and if I have the privilege, every day in the United States Senate doing exactly that,” Platner said.

Maine voters also were choosing nominees for governor U.S. House. The Democratic primaries for governor and the 2nd Congressional District will be decided by ranked choice voting, a process that may take more than a week, after no candidate won a majority Tuesday.

After thanking his supporters for helping him secure the Democratic nomination, Platner quickly pivoted to attacking Collins, attracting boos and jeers from the Blue Hill crowd.

Collins was unopposed in the GOP Maine primary on Tuesday. This means the matchup between Platner and Collins will pit a progressive with no experience in high office against one of the most powerful legislators in the Senate, and one of its few remaining moderate Republicans.

“Susan Collins has never met a war she didn’t like, she’s been supporting endless wars since I was a teenager, and I know, I had to fight in two of them,” Platner, a Marine and U.S. Army veteran, said. “You and your friends profited, and my friends died.”

He also criticized Collins for voting alongside Trump, particularly pointing out that she was a key vote in voting in favor of putting conservative judges on the U.S. Supreme Court.

“She has become just as spineless and corrupt as the establishment she now serves,” Platner said, pointing out that Collins once promised to only serve two terms but has been in the position for decades.

First elected in 1996, Collins has said her experience and key position as chair of the powerful appropriations committee are two reasons to send her back to the Senate.

Platner, 41, has focused his campaign on fighting the high costs he says hold down the middle class and said he got in the race to focus on income inequality.

His background has repeatedly generated criticism from both the right and the left.

Old online comments made by Platner in which he appeared to endorse political violence, dismiss rape in the military and criticize police officers and rural America surfaced last year. Platner apologized for the comments and said he was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression when he wrote them.

He’s also faced questions about a skull-and-crossbones tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol. Platner said he got the tattoo on his chest during a night of drinking while he was on leave in Croatia. He has maintained that he was unaware until recently that the image had been associated with Nazis, and he has since covered the tattoo with a different design. A former girlfriend told New York Times has since said that he did.

More recently, he went on the defensive amid reports that he previously exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women while married. Platner hasn’t directly denied the existence of the texts but instead criticized the aide who talked to news outlets and accused the media of running gossip.

The New York Times last week reported about his relationships with previous girlfriends, some of whom viewed him positively and others who described him as volatile and insulting. One woman said Platner twisted her arm during an argument and locked her in a room. Platner’s campaign disputed the allegation.

Annette Babcock, who is from Platner’s hometown of Sullivan, said she’s met him a few times and likes that he’s not an established politician. His recent controversies didn’t dissuade her from supporting him Tuesday.

“The Republicans don’t have much moral high ground to stand on when they’re criticizing him for what he’s done when (President Donald) Trump is a convicted felon,” she said.

In the governor’s race and 2nd Congressional District, no Democratic candidate won the majority of votes Tuesday, so the race will go to a ranked runoff.

Democrats are choosing gubernatorial candidates between Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows; former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson; former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Hannah Pingree; energy executive Angus King III; and former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Nirav Shah.

In the 2nd Congressional District, former Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, state Sen. Joe Baldacci, former U.S. Senate candidate Jordan Wood and social worker Paige Loud are on the ballot for the Democrats. The winner will face former Gov. Paul LePage, a Trump ally.

The Republican ballot for governor is even more crowded. Republicans will choose between former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Bobby Charles; healthcare executive Jonathan Bush; former Maine Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason; University of Maine System trustee Owen McCarthy; former Paris, Maine, selectman Robert Wessels; and business owners David Jones and Ben Midgley.

Associated Press journalist Rodrique Ngowi contributed from Sullivan, Maine.