What to know about the tumultuous Maine Senate primary

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — After days of posting multiple apology videos, showing off his chest to reveal a covered-up tattoo that had been connected with a Nazi symbol and distancing himself from old online comments, Maine Democrat Graham Platner says he’s only further committed to his U.S. Senate campaign.

Platner, an oyster farmer and first-time political candidate, is vying to flip a Senate seat that has been held by Republican Susan Collins for nearly 30 years. But first he must emerge from a primary field that includes Gov. Janet Mills.

Platner, 41, made a splashy jump into the senate race in August as a progressive candidate. But it wasn’t until after Mills, 77, jumped in the race that news outlets began reporting on his old Reddit posts, forcing him to issue a lengthy apology. He made a separate apology video when questions began swirling around a chest tattoo he got nearly 20 years ago.

He is trying to forge using a playbook similar to one followed by President Donald Trump, who has found success amid disclosures that might have ended campaigns only a decade ago.

Here’s what to know about the Senate primary.

Old comments, tattoo come to haunt new candidate

Platner has not disputed that he wrote a wide range of Reddit comments between 2013 and 2021 that appeared to endorse political violence and dismiss rape in the military, use homophobic slurs and criticize both police officers and rural America.

He has maintained that the posts were made after leaving the Army in 2012 when he “still had the crude humor, the dark, dark feelings, the offensive language that really was a hallmark of the infantry when I was in it.” He also said that he was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. He has credited moving back to his hometown in Maine, going to therapy and spending more time in his community as helping him evolve and change his world views.

Then, a tattoo on Platner’s chest quickly became the new target of scrutiny. Critics pointed out that the image resembled a specific symbol of Adolf Hitler’s paramilitary Schutzstaffel, or SS, which was responsible for the systematic murders of millions of Jews and others in Europe during World War II.

Platner covered up the chest tattoo earlier this week with a new design, nearly 20 years after getting the tattoo with some fellow Marines in Croatia. He has said no one pointed out the tattoo’s connotations until a few weeks ago.

Platner pivots to attack ‘establishment’

Platner has largely accused his opponents of being behind the leaks of his past online comments and raising questions about his tattoo. In an interview with The Associated Press, Platner said he was warned not to get into the race. He said he has no plans to back down.

Later, at a town hall on Wednesday, Platner told a packed crowd that the establishment was “trying to destroy my life” and added it is “not trying to get out there and talk about issues” but rather “trying to figure out if I said something stupid on the internet 13 years ago.”

“The establishment is spooked, and I’ll say this — If they thought that this was going to scare me off. If they thought that ripping my life to pieces, trying to destroy it, was going to make me think that I shouldn’t undertake this project, they clearly have not spent a lot of time around Marines,” Platner said to cheers.

Supporters staying strong

Platner’s backers, which include Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and the United Auto Workers, have continued to show their support.

“I’m not overly impressed by a squad of media running around saying, ’What do you think about the tattoo on Graham Platner’s chest,’ ” Sanders told Axios in an interview explaining his endorsement.

Mills has remained mum on Platner’s revelations. But another primary candidate, Jordan Wood, a onetime chief of staff to former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., has said Platner should drop out because “Democrats need to be able to condemn Trump’s actions with moral clarity” and Platner “no longer can.”

Election heating up, primary months away

Maine’s primary election is not until June 2026, so the candidates have seven more months to make their case to voters.

Mark Brewer, chair of the political science department at University of Maine, said the controversy surrounding the tattoo and the internet postings could still damage Platner’s campaign. Platner has weathered the storm for now, Brewer said, but whether he can remain in the race for the long haul remains to be seen.

“It was much better to be Graham Platner three weeks ago than it is right now,” Brewer said.