Big Step Toward the Senate: Victory for Controversial Anti-Israel Candidate

Graham Platner won the Democratic primary in Maine by a wide margin, setting up a race against the sitting Republican senator, Susan Collins, in a contest that could help determine control of the Senate.

Platner became one of the most prominent figures in the midterm elections in recent months, both because of his progressive populist platform and because of the many controversies tied to him, from abuse allegations to praise for Hamas. He won about 72% of the vote, compared with about 20% for Governor Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign in April but remained in the race.

Platner will face Collins in November for a Senate seat in a political battle that could decide which party controls the Senate. In his victory speech, he tried to cast himself as a story of redemption and rehabilitation. “People can change,” he told supporters, adding, “I made mistakes in my life, mistakes I regret, mistakes I live with and continue to learn from.”

Platner has carried a heavy burden of controversies that have shadowed his candidacy in recent months. First, he drew negative attention because of a tattoo on his chest of a symbol associated with the Nazis. He said he did not know the meaning of the tattoo and covered it with a new design after realizing it resembled a Nazi symbol.

He is one of the most critical voices toward Israel in the Democratic Party, and he echoed and cooperated with several antisemitic influencers. In posts he published online about a decade ago and that were exposed during the campaign, he praised a Hamas raid in 2014 in which five IDF soldiers were killed, and said he had no moral problem with the raid.

According to a series of reports, Platner sent sexual messages to more than ten women during his marriage, and also maintained an active account on an app associated with sexual encounters during the election campaign. In another report, former partners of Platner described him as volatile and unfaithful. One of them told The New York Times that he even physically hurt her. Platner denied the allegations.

In addition, he previously published a series of offensive posts targeting various groups. In 2013, he wrote that women who fear rape should not drink so much that they “find themselves having sex with someone they did not intend to have sex with,” and in other posts he insulted various minority groups.

Alongside the controversies, Platner managed to build a real base in Maine and win support across the United States. The 41-year-old candidate is an oyster farmer who served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Marine Corps. He ran a populist and progressive campaign focused on the cost of living and health care, and criticized the Democratic establishment and American involvement in foreign wars, including in Iran. Platner has received support from leading figures in the progressive wing in the United States, including Bernie Sanders.