Liberal groups and senators are standing firm in their embrace of Graham Platner, even as the progressive outsider’s political baggage hangs over Maine’s Democratic Senate primary to take on incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
The former oyster farmer and Marine veteran is wooing lawmakers and voters more aligned with the progressive wing, as well as some unlikely lobbyists, as he seeks to triumph over primary opponent Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) in a state critical to Democrats’ effort to retake the upper chamber.
A Washington fundraiser for Platner this week, held by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), was the latest evidence of sitting senators’ willingness to buck party leadership on midterm campaign strategy by not embracing establishment-backed Mills.
The event, supported by lobbyists of industries that the insurgent candidate has criticized, came on the heels of Platner revealing he’s had recent conversations with unspecified members of the Senate’s so-called “Fight Club” of liberal Democrats ready to resist Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) primary meddling tactics. That club includes Heinrich.
“Chuck Schumer very much is, at this point, pretty much a perfect example of the kind of Democrat that has been operating in the system the entire time, has benefited from it, who has gained an immense amount of power. And yet, for some reason, we can’t do anything with that power,” Platner told reporters and supporters during a call earlier this month. “For Senate candidates, I think opposing Sen. Schumer’s leadership is fairly paramount for pushing a new way of doing things.”
Schumer’s top deputy, Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), who is not seeking reelection next year and aligns more with the caucus centrists, defended the strategy to place the party’s Senate campaign arm behind hand-picked candidates in contested primaries across the map.
“Historically, we have tried to make sure there is a viable winner — potential winner — in the primary,” Durbin said. “It’s tricky because the local people may not agree with our conclusion, but I think it’s a starting premise.”
The latest warning about Platner’s viability against Collins came last month in the form of an internal poll from Democratic group EMILYs List, which promotes women candidates and is backing Mills. They found that most voters, upon learning of his controversial past social media posts, side with Collins.
That checkered past remains one of Platner’s biggest general election weaknesses. The former combat veteran has said he was “struggling deeply” after returning from serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, and apologized for a deluge of years old posts about claiming to be a communist, criticizing police, saying rural, white voters in Maine were “stupid” and “racist,” and having a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol that he has since covered up.
But when it comes to beating Collins, a feat Democrats have been unable to achieve for more than two decades, the latest polling suggests it’s a statistical tie which candidate is better suited to deny one of the GOP’s most centrist lawmakers a sixth term.
Although polling is early and limited, the survey shows Collins and Mills tied head-to-head at 43%, and Platner with a 1-point lead over Mills, at 43% to 42%. But the poll, released this week and conducted by Pan Atlantic Research, showed Mills besting Platner in the primary by double digits, 47% to 37%.
Still, liberal fundraising juggernauts such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), an early endorser of Platner, are among the progressive lawmakers and organizations buoying his candidacy. Earlier this month, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee endorsed Platner while simultaneously releasing an internal poll showing Platner leading Mills 58% to 38%.
In the call with reporters and supporters organized by PCCC, Platner said he’s already had “several meetings with multiple members” of the Fight Club, but did not divulge who. The group consists of Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sanders, and Heinrich.
PLATNER REBUILDS CAMPAIGN AFTER SETBACKS HE BLAMES ON PARTY LEADERSHIP
Platner made the case that more favorable surveys, such as the one from PCCC, were evidence that “a lot of people see all of this as nonsense, the negative attack ads,” and that he was destined to face them regardless of his past social media posts. He also distanced himself from the notion that opposing Schumer as the Democratic leader was a “litmus test” for progressive candidates like himself, and is more of a “tactical” calculation for how to pass more liberal policies.
“You fight it by, frankly, building a movement, building power, and then engaging with people directly,” Platner said. “Those attacks, they were coming anyways. I’m pushing for Medicare-for-all. They’re going to call me a communist. I’m an out-and-out anti-fascist, and somebody somewhere is going to come along and try to turn that around into some left-wing radicalism.”
