A new contender has entered the race to unseat longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who is seeking a sixth term in Washington, D.C.
Graham Platner, a 40-year-old Marine Corps and U.S. Army veteran turned oyster farmer from Sullivan, Maine, officially announced his Senate campaign on Tuesday. Platner says working-class Mainers have been left behind by powerful corporations and politicians in Washington — including 72-year-old Collins, whom he accuses of failing to stand up to President Donald Trump and his agenda.
“Nobody can tell me Collins doesn’t know how to use power,” Platner told HuffPost. “She’s very well-versed in the mechanisms of the Senate. She chose not to use that power to hold up the bill that was going to destroy Medicaid for so many Mainers. I’m not fooled by that.”
While Collins voted against Trump’s sweeping bill to cut Medicaid and slash taxes for the wealthy, her earlier vote to advance the measure helped clear its path. As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she has also witnessed Trump’s administration withhold hundreds of millions in funding from programs with broad bipartisan backing.
“I think she has worked this complicated charade,” Platner added. “She pretends to be a moderate to appeal across the spectrum, while very often voting along with Republicans.”
Democrats see Maine as a critical battleground in their push to reclaim a Senate majority during next year’s midterms. The state backed Kamala Harris by seven points in the 2024 presidential election, but Democrats have struggled to field high-profile challengers against Collins, who remains a well-funded and seasoned opponent. Platner joins former congressional staffer Jordan Wood in the race, though many Democrats are still hoping Gov. Janet Mills (D) — who has not committed — will step in.
Collins may face a steeper climb this time. Her approval ratings have slipped during Trump’s second term, and Democrats are eager to link her to his proposals cutting rural health care and other widely supported programs. Trump’s tariffs have also damaged Maine’s trade-dependent economy, particularly its ties with Canada.
Still, Collins has proven resilient. In 2020, despite being outraised and trailing in polls against then–Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, she secured reelection even as Trump lost the state to Joe Biden.
Platner, who served four infantry tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, says his decision to run stems from his devotion to Maine and frustration over the country’s direction.
“I’m watching it in many ways get ripped apart by the collapse of the rural health care system, the inability of people to afford housing and watching immense amounts of taxpayer money get expended on wasteful foreign wars,” he said. “I’m doing this because I love this place. I cannot stand by and live a good life while everything I feel connected to falls apart around me.”
He denounced Trump’s use of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., and other cities as a “horrific abuse” of military power.
“This is not the America we want to live in, full of armed, uniformed, masked agents,” Platner said. “This is dystopian. It is not the America that many people voted for, including for Trump. Many are friends of mine. This is not something we as Americans want to see our government do.”
Platner also faulted Democrats for being “feckless” and failing to connect with working-class Americans. He urged the party to take a harder line against Republicans and consider eliminating the Senate filibuster if they win back the majority.
“You can’t win a chess match when the other side turns the board over and starts to beat you with it,” he said.
