Graham Platner captured his second endorsement from a sitting senator on Monday, with Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) joining Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in backing the progressive outsider in a contested primary against Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) for Maine’s battleground seat.
“Graham Platner is the kind of fighter Maine hasn’t seen in a long time, someone who tells you exactly what he thinks, doesn’t owe anything to the special interests, and wakes up every day thinking about working families,” Gallego said in a statement. “He’s a Marine, and reflects the grit and independence that defines Maine, and that’s exactly why I’m proud to stand with Graham Platner.”
Gallego, also a Marine combat veteran, “knows how to win tough races — and he gets that if Democrats try the same thing year after year, we will lose,” Platner said in a statement, referring to Gallego’s 2024 election win in battleground Arizona.
Mills, an establishment-backed candidate with more centrist views, is supported by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). He’s stood by Mills despite a recent University of New Hampshire poll showing Platner with a whopping 38-point lead in the primary and up 11 points over Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). The same survey showed Mills beating Collins by just 1 point.
“Polls come and go. There are different polls that are all over the lot,” Schumer told reporters last week. “We’re going to win in Maine, and frankly, Mills is the only Democrat who’s won statewide in 20 years.”
LIABILITY OR USEFUL FOIL? TRUMP TAKES CENTER STAGE IN SUSAN COLLINS REELECTION FIGHT
The primary for the toss-up seat isn’t until June 9. But Democrats such as Schumer fear Platner’s more insurgent style of politics and baggage, including past offensive social media posts and a now-covered Nazi-linked tattoo, will turn away swing voters and spoil the party’s latest chance to oust Collins.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t have any tattoos,” Mills quipped in a tweet last week.
