Bitter Maine Democratic Senate Primary Pits Gov. Janet Mills Against Progressive Graham Platner

CBS reports that Maine’s Democratic Senate primary has turned sharply negative as 78‑year‑old centrist Gov. Janet Mills faces 41‑year‑old progressive challenger Graham Platner in a race to take on five‑term Republican Sen. Susan Collins, viewed as one of the GOP’s most vulnerable incumbents. Platner, an oyster farmer, military veteran and former private military contractor, has recently led in limited polling and outraised both Mills and Collins, bringing in about $7.8 million last year versus Mills’ $2.6 million and Collins’ $4.6 million. The contest escalated this week when Mills’ campaign launched a six‑figure statewide TV and digital ad buy highlighting crude and rape‑related comments Platner posted on Reddit in 2013, part of a broader controversy over past posts in which he allegedly called himself a communist, referred to police as "bastards," and disparaged rural white people, as well as a tattoo he later acknowledged resembled a Nazi symbol and says he has covered up. Platner has repeatedly apologized, blaming youthful "crude humor" tied to military culture and his post‑traumatic stress after Iraq and Afghanistan service, and said he is "f***ing embarrassed" by the remarks. With national Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, having recruited Mills and outside groups expected to pour money into Maine, the primary is emerging as a high‑stakes generational and ideological fight whose outcome could shape Democrats’ odds of flipping the seat and the balance of power in the Senate.