Politics
NEW: Democrat Candidate Trails In Crucial Senate Race After Major Scandal Derails Campaign
Maine Democrat Graham Platner’s own words could sink his Senate bid before it even sets sail, according to a new poll obtained by POLITICO.
A Democratic memo warns that Platner’s history of inflammatory social media posts — including calling himself a communist, mocking police, and branding white Mainers as “stupid” and “racist” — is toxic to general election voters.
The poll, commissioned by EMILYs List and conducted by Impact Research, found that after voters saw Platner’s deleted Reddit posts, Republican Sen. Susan Collins crushed him by double digits. Even when pollsters added a sympathetic spin about Platner’s background as a veteran and oyster farmer — plus his apology — the gap barely moved.
Before voters heard about the worst of his comments, Collins already led Platner 51% to 42%. But once they were shown more of his online rants, her lead ballooned to 19 points. Platner’s apology narrowed the deficit by just five points.
The memo didn’t test how Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, Collins’ other likely challenger, would fare. EMILYs List has endorsed Mills and is taking Platner’s campaign seriously enough to measure just how much damage his words could do.
“The poll’s findings are clear,” said Tiernan Donohue, EMILYs List’s chief campaigns officer. “Maine voters find Graham Platner’s comments blaming victims for sexual assault, calling the Mainers he is seeking to represent ‘racist’ and ‘stupid,’ and promoting violent political action completely disqualifying.”
Platner has since renounced his old rhetoric, claiming he was in “toxic corners of the internet” during a low point. “I don’t want people to judge me off the dumbest thing I said on the internet 12 years ago,” he told the Washington Post in October. “I would like people to engage with who I am today.”
Despite Collins’ clear edge, the poll shows she’s not invincible: her approval rating is underwater by 10 points, and Maine voters say they’d prefer a Democrat over a Republican in the Senate, 46% to 37%. Still, Collins has been here before. In 2020, polls also showed her trailing before she stormed back to win reelection in one of the most expensive races in the country.
Next year’s contest is shaping up to be another multimillion-dollar showdown, but if Platner can’t outrun his past, it may be over before it begins.
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