Will the controversy surrounding Platner deter primary voters?

Summary

The NPR Politics Podcast

Episode: Will the controversy surrounding Platner deter primary voters?
Date: June 8, 2026
Hosts: Ashley Lopez, Tamara Keith
Guest: Kevin Miller (Maine Public)

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Episode Overview

This episode examines the Maine Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, focusing on front-runner Graham Platner and the impact of ongoing controversies on his campaign. The panel discusses whether Platner's tumultuous past, public scandals, and recent allegations might sway voters, and what this means for Democratic efforts to unseat longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins in November.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background on Graham Platner’s Controversies (01:00–02:56)

• Platner’s Past Issues
  Kevin Miller recaps Platner's past controversies, including:
  • Insensitive comments about women, minorities, and rural voters on Reddit.
  • A tattoo resembling a Nazi design.
  • A recent New York Times story with ex-partners accusing him of toxic, intimidating behavior.
• Platner’s Response
  Platner admits to being a "bad boyfriend" while struggling with PTSD and alcohol but denies any aggressive or threatening actions or intentional Nazi symbolism.
  • He claims these stories are part of an establishment attack due to his "populist, anti-establishment" messaging.
  • Focuses on redirecting attention to campaign themes: economic inequality, political corruption, and "the billionaire class."
  • Quote:

    "He's very forcefully denied that he ever behaved aggressively or threateningly towards women or that he knew about the Nazi ties to this tattoo..."
    — Kevin Miller (01:45)

2. Political Strategy: Pivoting and Voter Preparation (02:56–04:53)

• Platner’s Narrative
  Tamara Keith underscores Platner’s shift from defense to offense:
  • He claims the establishment (including fellow Democrats) is targeting him.
  • Platner warned voters early about his "messy past," potentially softening the blow of recent revelations.
  • Quote:

    "He's really making a quick pivot away from these various controversies to saying they're just out to get me because I care about health care and... millionaires and billionaires having too much money."
    — Tamara Keith (02:56)

• Voter Priming
  Discussion on whether voters were "primed" to expect scandals due to Platner’s own messaging.

3. Voter Attitudes and Maine’s Political Culture (04:22–08:34)

• Perception Among Primary Voters
  Many Democrats acknowledge Platner’s troubled past but prioritize his policies and outsider status.
  • Therapy, redemption, and working through personal issues cited as showing growth.
  • Faith in Platner’s policies often outweighs concerns over past behavior.
• Maine’s Unique Political Flavor
  • Rural, independent streak—even among Democrats.
  • Tradition of valuing "independent voices" (e.g., Susan Collins, Angus King).
  • Quote:

    "Maine is always kind of proud of being a more independent state... There's a lot of rural areas. So you have really large areas... where folks are more conservative. Even... Democrats... tend to be more moderate."
    — Kevin Miller (07:32)

  • Quote:

    "There is a sort of rugged individualism out there that is prized among the electorate."
    — Tamara Keith (08:18)

4. Maine’s Ranked-Choice Voting System (08:34–09:37)

• System Explanation
  Voters rank candidates; if no one gets 50%, the lowest candidate is eliminated and votes are redistributed.
  • With three candidates (Platner, Janet Mills, David Costello), ranked-choice could matter—though Platner seems likely to clear 50%.
  • Ranked-choice more likely to affect other races this cycle.

5. What’s at Stake for Democrats (10:43–14:36)

• Senate Control
  Maine is seen as one of the clearest potential Senate pickups for Democrats, a "true toss-up."
  • Despite Democratic strength in Presidential/Governor races, Collins remains formidable.
  • Quantitative context: Collins last won by 8+ points, even as Biden won Maine by 9.
  • Quote:

    "There are not a lot of options for Democrats to win the Senate... Maine is seen as one of the potentially easiest pickups. It's a true toss-up..."
    — Tamara Keith (10:52)

• Party Dynamics
  Tension between establishment efforts (Schumer encouraging Mills) and the progressive/outsider energy behind Platner.
  • Despite initial concern, the party is lining up behind Platner as the likely nominee.
  • Quote:

    "...the progressive side and the establishment side all sort of falling in line saying, if this guy's our nominee, this guy is our nominee, and we're going to fight for that seat."
    — Tamara Keith (14:43)

6. Challenges Facing Susan Collins (15:14–19:45)

• Collins’s Vulnerability
  • Recent polling shows her approval underwater.
  • Biggest threat: association with Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Maine—especially among independents (the key voting bloc).
  • Democrats leverage her votes on Kavanaugh and RFK Jr., highlighting claims she’s not doing enough to oppose Trump.
  • Quote:

    "Susan Collins has been able to win election after election because she's able to pick up both Republican voters, but also those independent voters. But this year, with everything going on... there's just such an effort among Democrats to tie Susan Collins to anything... Trump."
    — Kevin Miller (15:38)

• Collins’s Campaign Approach
  • Not engaging in attacks on Platner directly; instead, highlighting her clout as Senate Appropriations Chair and the federal dollars she brings Maine.
  • Argues Mainers would lose influence with a freshman senator.
• Core issues:
  Voters focus more on policy and the desire to flip the Senate than on Platner’s personal baggage.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tamara Keith (On Platner’s pivot):
  “He is doing the thing that candidates do where they pivot to their campaign message instead of talking about the thing that, you know, reporters want to ask them about.” (02:56)

• Ashley Lopez (On voter expectations):
  “Platner has been ceding this idea for a while, since the beginning of his campaign, that, like, the political class, including Democrats, would be coming at him in full force.” (03:53)

• Kevin Miller (On voter reactions):
  “A lot of people kind of put it, look at it that way. They said that's his past behavior. He's gone to therapy, he's working out his issues with his wife. This is about politics and policy. I support his policies. I support his call for change in D.C., and that's why they're supporting him.” (05:17)

• Tamara Keith (On party unity):
  “All of the various progressive heavyweights like Elizabeth Warren and Ro Khanna and Bernie Sanders are all also standing behind Platner... if this guy's our nominee, this guy is our nominee, and we're going to fight for that seat.” (14:43)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:00–02:56] — Platner controversies and campaign narrative
• [04:22–07:32] — How voters and Maine’s political style affect the primary
• [08:34–09:37] — Ranked-choice voting: explainer and expected impact
• [10:43–14:36] — The stakes for Democrats and intra-party dynamics
• [15:14–19:45] — Collins’ vulnerability, campaign strategy, and general election dynamics

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Summary Takeaways

• Platner’s scandals are serious and ongoing, but his messaging—owning his past, framing himself as a D.C. outsider—resonates with a Democratic primary electorate hungry for dramatic change.
• Maine’s electorate values independence, which partly shields Platner from typical damage, but also leaves space for unpredictable races.
• Party unity is coalescing around Platner for strategic reasons: the desire to beat Collins and flip the Senate trumps intra-party concerns.
• Susan Collins’s greatest liability is her GOP affiliation in a state souring on Trump; her campaign leans on experience and federal benefits, not negative attacks.
• The result of the primary hinges more on policy appetite and anti-establishment mood than on personal scandal—a revealing snapshot of current U.S. political trends.

Transcript

[A]

Support for NPR and the following message come from Washington. Wise decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories, making news and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. Host Mike Townsend and his guests explore policy initiatives for retirement savings, taxes, trade and more. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] WashingtonWise or wherever you listen.

[B]

Hey there. It's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics.

[C]

And I'm Tamara Keith, senior political correspondent.

[B]

And Maine Public's Kevin Miller is back with us today. Hi, Kevin.

[D]

Hi. How are you?

[B]

All right. So today on the show, Maine has a primary tomorrow. Democrats are hoping to flip the Senate seat there in November to unseat longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins. But Kevin, the front runner in this race, Graham Platner, has had a rough couple of weeks. Can you give us a quick recap of what's been going on?

[D]

Yeah. So Platner has been sort of, I'd say, shrouded in controversy since last fall. I think people may remember the stories about his insensitive comments on Reddit a few years ago about women and minorities and rural voters. And then, of course, there's this skull and crossbones tattoo on his chest that turns out resembles a Nazi design. But this most recent controversy centers on this New York Times story from last week in which several of his former romantic partners described kind of really toxic relationships and what some felt as intimidating or even threatening behavior from him.

[B]

How has Platner responded to all this?

[D]

Well, he's acknowledged, as he has kind of throughout this campaign, that he was frequently not the best boyfriend in the past because he was in a very dark place, struggling with PTSD from his four combat tours with Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq. And he was also self medicating with alcohol. But he's very forcefully denied that he ever behaved aggressively or threateningly towards women or that he knew about the Nazi ties to this tattoo, which also resurfaced in the Time story. But Platner is also talking about these stories as showing kind of how his very populist, anti establishment campaign is really hitting a nerve with the powers that be in D.C. on both sides of the aisle. And he says because if they keep him talking about these dark days from his past, before he got therapy and before this kind of redemption tour that he's on, that keeps him from talking about the really populous messages of his campaign, like economic inequality and kind of billionaire class and kind of the corporate executives that work with political cronies to. To run the political system as he sees it.

[C]

Yeah, he's. He's really making a quick pivot away from these various controversies to saying they're just out to get me because I care about health care and I care about millionaires and billionaires having too much money. And, you know, like, he is doing the thing that candidates do where they pivot to their campaign message instead of talking about the thing that, you know, reporters want to ask them about. And I will say that there was another story that dropped about a week ago, and Platner has. Has certainly acknowledged this, that early in his marriage, he was sexting with multiple women who are not his wife.

[B]

He.

[C]

He has now talked about how they worked through that. But that type of issue, on top of all of these other things, has. Has some people concerned that there could be more shoes to drop as this campaign goes on.

[B]

I will say, like, Platner has been ceding this idea for a while, since the beginning of his campaign, that, like, the political class, including Democrats, would be coming at him in full force. So I wonder how much, like, voters were probably primed to hear a lot of stuff. I mean, he has said that he has a pretty messy past. And so, I mean, I guess I wonder, Kevin, like, are voters primed to hear some allegations like this? Because Platner has kind of been warning everybody this was coming.

[D]

Yeah, he has been. And we've seen this since October, when former Governor Janet Mills entered the race. So Platner got in in August, and his campaign just blew up. Blew up in a good way. It just kind of caught fire, and he had a lot of momentum. And then our current governor, Janet Mills, got into the race in October. And I think it's important to note that even though Governor Mills suspended her campaign in late April, she is still on the ballot. And right after she got in, a lot of these controversies started bubbling to the surface. And certainly the Platner campaign, and a lot of speculation was that was coming from the Democrats. It was coming from the Democratic establishment, as they say, that they were generating this dirt on him. And in order to weaken his campaign. That way, the chosen candidate in the field, Governor Mills, could win the primary and take on Susan Collins. So these are not necessarily new issues for a lot of Maine voters. They've been hearing about them for months. The details are different. And a lot of times, in a lot of cases, the details are, you know, they're messier, they're dirtier, and it's certainly giving voters Pause. But what I'm hearing over and over again when I talk to people is that, you know, they certainly condemn his past behavior. But, but a lot of people kind of put it, look at it that way. They said that's his past behavior. He's gone to therapy, he's working out his issues with his wife. This is about politics and policy. I support his policies. I support his call for change in D.C. and that's why they're supporting him.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, this is a political moment, and Graham Platner isn't the only candidate in this mold. This is a political moment where a lot of voters are very frustrated with the establishment. Um, I, I certainly President Trump's victory in 2024 was in large part a backlash against the establishment. And, and Platner comes from a place of challenging the status quo and, and challenging the way things have been. And, you know, he comes from sort of the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party. And there are a lot of people who are like, you know, doing establishment has done it. The incrementalism, it's just not working. It's not enough. And that's really what Platner is speaking to, like the Janet Mills getting in. She is a moderate Democratic governor. She is an older candidate. She got in and she just couldn't catch up. Like, Platner was already surfing that wave and she's just, like, paddling and can't catch it.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, Tam, to your point, like, Democrats are really upset with their leaders. The base is not happy. But I do think it's worth just focusing a little bit on Maine, because Maine is a little different. Right. This isn't like New York City, where you have some very fired up, sort of lefty Dems who vote probably a little different than the rest of the country. Maine Democrats are a little different. Right. Kevin, how would you describe Maine's particular flavor of politics?

[D]

Well, Maine is always kind of prior itself on being a more independent state. Yes, it leans to the left, it leans blue, but Maine is actually larger than most of the other New England states combined. Has a pretty small population, but it's a big state. There's a lot of rural areas. So you have really large areas of the state where you have folks are more conservative. Even when someone's running as a Democrat on a statewide ticket, such as Governor Mills, they tend to be more moderate. They tend to emphasize their willingness to be an independent voice. That's why Susan Collins has managed to stay in that position for so many years, is that she casts herself as the moderate dealmaker, even though she's a Republican.

[C]

Yeah. And the other senator from Maine is Angus King, who is an independent. He caucuses with the Democrats, but he's an independent. There is a sort of rugged individualism out there that is prized among the electorate.

[B]

So there's one more thing that makes Maine a little different, and this is my favorite thing to talk about, which is like systems of voting, like primary systems. So Maine has ranked choice voting, Kevin, how does that affect all this?

[D]

Yeah. So the ranked choice voting process is interesting. Grant Platner appears poised to win the primary. There are actually three candidates on the ballot, Graham Platner, Governor Mills, and another Democrat, David Costello. Because there are three candidates, voters get to rank the candidates in their order of preference. Now, if Graham Platner or any of the other candidates gets more than 50% of the vote, those rankings don't come into effect. But if no one gets more than 50%, it goes to a ranked choice runoff where voters, second and third choices would come into play. So we're fully expecting that the ranked choice process is probably going to play out in one of our congressional seats as well as in our governor's race. But at this point, it looks like it's probably not going to be a factor in the Senate race unless Graham Platner's support has really cratered over the past couple weeks. And so far, it doesn't look like that's happened.

[B]

All right. We're going to take a quick break. More in a moment.

[E]

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[D]

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[B]

Welcome back. And Tam, I want to focus on how important winning the Senate in Maine is for the Democratic Party. Can you walk us through the stakes here?

[C]

So there are not a lot of Options for Democrats to win the Senate, Democrats need to take four seats that are currently held by Republicans. This is a tall order. And Maine is seen as one of the potentially easiest pickups. It's a true toss up where some of these other states, like Texas or Iowa or Ohio, lean more Republican. Now, of course, Maine and Senator Susan Collins have been like the great white whale for Democrats. They've been trying to win that Senate seat for a long time, unsuccessfully. And at the presidential level, the majority of Maine's electoral votes have gone to Democrats. Democrats have won the popular vote. Maine has gone for Democrats at the level of the governor. Um, and yet Collins is someone who has maintained a grip on this seat. Uh, just for instance, the last time she was on the ballot, she beat the Democratic candidate by more than eight points in the same election that Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by nine points. Um, and so it should be a state that Democrats should be able to pick up, and yet it will inevitably be challenging.

[B]

I wonder how you guys think that has shaped the primary, though. I think it's been very interesting to watch Democratic leaders like Chuck Schumer and all this. I wonder how much of his behavior, which you guys can get into, is shaped by the fact that this is seemingly like the most gettable, but also the one they really want coming into midterms.

[D]

Yeah, I'd say that it's interesting because as you talked about earlier, there's definitely this anti establishment undercurrent in this election. When Senator Schumer got in and encouraged Governor Mills to run, that was viewed by many Democrats as kind of the big D.C. establishment trying to put its finger on the pulse of things here in Maine and to shape the outcome. People really pushed back against that. So I think that's one side of what we're seeing. And then there's also that this is a state that really does lean more to the left. But Susan Collins is such an institution here. Back in 2020, during that last campaign, almost all the polls suggested that the Democrat in that race who was the House speaker, she was going to beat Collins. And as Tamara mentioned, Collins won by almost nine points, even despite the fact that she was significantly outspent by the Democrats. And so there's just a lot of fear of seeing that repeat in 2026. We saw in 2020.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, it's fascinating because Mills was the candidate that Chuck Schumer wanted. Mills was the candidate that he worked really hard to get her to run, who, who was seen by establishment Democrats as having a real chance to beat Collins because she had already been elected statewide, because she was known, because she was. Had her own brand. And yet by the time she got into the race, it was too late. Graham Platner had all of that momentum and had built this thing. And, you know, I think that there is this thing that's happening in a number of states where, you know, Democratic voters don't love the Democratic Party, but they really, really, really want to beat Trump or anyone associated with Trump. They want to feel like they have some license. And it's interesting how that's playing out in various primaries because different electorates have different ideas about who the best candidates are, what the right kind of candidate is in this moment.

[B]

I mean, speaking of Chuck Schumer, though, he is seeming to stand by Platner in all this, even as more allegations have come up.

[C]

Yeah, and all of the various progressive heavyweights like Elizabeth Warren and Ro Khanna and Bernie Sanders are all also standing behind Platner. You know, that just speaks to how important this race is for Democrats that you could have, you know, the, the progressive side and the establishment side all sort of falling in line saying, if this guy's our nominee, this guy is our nominee, and we're going to fight for that seat.

[B]

Another reason why Democrats think Collins might be a little vulnerable here. She's unopposed in the primary, so obviously tomorrow's election is not going to be a tough one for her. But let's talk about the general election, which is shaping up to be a little tougher for her. A recent poll by UMass, Lowell and YouGov showed her approval rating underwater. What have you found, Kevin, are the big challenges she's facing trying to keep her seat this year?

[D]

Well, I think the biggest challenge is definitely her association as a Republican to President Trump. President Trump is deeply unpopular up here, certainly with Democrats, but with a lot of independents. And one of the other unique things about Maine politics is basically about a third of the voters are Democrats, but just behind them, the second largest voting bloc are independents. And these are really the key swing voters that decide most close elections here in Maine. And then after that is Republicans are kind of in third. So Susan Collins has been able to win election after election because she's able to pick up both the Republican voters, but also those independent voters. But this year, with everything going on with the Trump administration, there's just such an effort among the Democrats to basically tie Susan Collins to anything that has to do with Trump because of his unpopularity. And certainly looking back to her vote for Brett Kavanaugh on the supreme court. She supported RFK Jr. For his nomination as HHS secretary. These are all issues that Democrats are campaigning on. They're saying she helped weaken abortion rights in this country and that she's not doing enough to stand up to Donald Trump, despite the fact that she holds one of the most influential positions in Congress as the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

[C]

Yeah. And a lot of Democrats are essentially saying, yeah, sure, there's some baggage around Graham Platner, but Susan Collins? Yeah, but, but what about Susan Collins? Like, they, they, they are very focused on getting her out of the Senate.

[B]

Yeah. A big pool of independent voters is not super helpful to Republicans right now. I mean, polling shows independent voters are breaking for Democrats pretty consistently on most issues right now, which I wonder. I'm just assuming that's going to be in the mix here.

[C]

Yeah. You know, in Maine especially, key voting groups are independents and older women. And so seeing how that that plays in this race will be very, very interesting. Like, how big a difference is there between the Democratic primary electorate and the general election? Broader electorate in Maine?

[D]

And one thing I would add that it's interesting when I'm talking to voters in the Democratic primary, and these are all Democrats, I've talked to quite a few. That key demographic of older women. So many of them say, look, I understand that Graham Platner had a troubled background and he's trying to move past it, but these policy issues are. I support his policy issues, and these are the reasons that I'm voting for Graham Platner. And they just want to see someone defeat Susan Collins. That is the overwhelming kind of sentiment among Democrats here, is Democrats need to win back control of the Senate in order to confront the Trump administration. And as Tamara mentioned earlier, Maine is one of the most likely pathways to get to that.

[B]

Well, speaking of Collins, how is she positioning herself in this race?

[D]

It's interesting. She actually doesn't really respond to a lot of the controversies focusing on Platner. She's kind of just letting the outside groups and the Republican National Committee go after Platner, and she just shows her disapproval. Instead, what she's really been focusing on this year, as she did in 2020, is this role that she plays on the Senate Appropriations Committee and her ability to bring back huge amounts of money to the state. Senate Appropriations Chair has a lot of power to allocate money, to bring money back to their state, and the Senate Appropriations Chair has a lot of power to direct money back to their state. And she says over and over again. Look, I'm doing this. I'm benefiting Maine in all these different ways. And if you replace me by a junior senator, you know, a freshman senator, you're going to lose all that influence

[B]

here in D.C. well, like much of the political world, tomorrow's going to be very fascinating to watch. So I know a lot of us are going to be tuning in. All right. Let's leave it there for today, though. Thank you for joining us, Kevin thank

[D]

you for having me.

[B]

I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics.

[C]

And I'm Tamara Keith, senior political correspondent.

[B]

And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics podcast.

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