Democrat Graham Platner competes in 2026 against Senator Susan Collins

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) has a new challenger before voters take the poll.

Graham Platner competed as a Democrat in the early hours of Tuesday morning. According to his online biography, the combat veteran served in the U.S. Army and Marines during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and is now the owner-operator of Waukeag Neck Oyster Co.

His campaign Facebook page says he is “a friend of the work supervisor, an enemy of the oligarch.” He already has more than a dozen town halls in New England.

“[E]Where I go, it seems that the structure that makes us together is torn apart by billionaires and corrupt politicians,” Pratner, 40, said in a campaign launch video.

Senate Democrats rush to recruit top candidates to win majority in mid-2026

“From destroying our environment, pushing our families into poverty and crushing the interests of the middle class,” he said.

Prana continued that he supports universal health care, assists veterans and stops funding for foreign wars. The video was produced by Morris Katz, a Democratic nominee for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. New York Times.

“Become the Bernie Brothers Kamala Harris Donors are appeals to Portland progressives in rural Maine, not centrist and conservative voters,” said Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine Republican Party.

Trump ally Ally Mike Collins

R-Maine Senator Susan Collins walked out of the Senate floor after spending the night at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC on July 1, 2025. (Andrew Hanik)

Platner, a new political player, Tell Politico He also brought former senior assistant Joe Cavello to D-Penn. Senator John Fetterman to help his campaign.

“I think it’s quite interesting to call me a liberal. I mean, I’m a competitive pistol shooter. That’s what I did on the weekend,” he told the media. “I’m a gun coach. Obviously, I’ve spent years on the service of using guns. I’ve grown up, too. Rural Maine Guns are part of our existence. ”

R-Maine Senator Susan Collins met with U.S. Supreme Court nominee and Federal Court of Appeal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in her office on March 8, 2022. (Jim Berger)

this Democratic Challenger The list for Collins is growing, with reports saying that those who are already in office are trying to use the state’s 77-year-old Democratic Governor Janet Mills to take the seat.

Republicans currently control the majority Senate With a profit of 53-47. Democrats need to flip four seats in the 2026 midterm elections to occupy a majority.

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A Collins spokesman told Fox News Numbers that Plato was “just another progressive player in the competition.”