Democrats just found their guy to take on Senator Susan Collins in Maine — an oyster farmer named Graham Platner — and he's already refusing to support his own party's leader. Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee after two-term Governor Janet Mills dropped out of the primary, told Fox News he won't back Chuck Schumer as Senate Democratic leader even if he wins. Nothing says "party unity" like your handpicked candidate torching the boss before the yard signs go up.
Schumer apparently called Platner to congratulate him on running "a good race," and Platner described it as a "perfectly cordial conversation." That's political speak for "I smiled while telling you to pound sand." When asked whether he'd support Schumer's leadership, Platner dodged like a man who's been coached by the Bernie Sanders wing — which, given that he's running in Maine, is probably exactly what happened.
Here's the thing. Democrats have been telling us for months that 2026 is the year they take back the Senate. Maine was supposed to be the crown jewel — a "high-profile and competitive" race where they finally knock off Collins, who's seeking her sixth six-year term. They got Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders cheerleading from next door in Vermont and Massachusetts. They had the whole operation lined up.
And their candidate just said the quiet part out loud at an event in Ellsworth, Maine: "Nothing brings people together like agreeing that Susan Collins shouldn't be in the U.S. Senate." That's his unifying message. Not policy. Not vision. Just "we all hate the same Republican." Inspiring stuff.
Platner, an Army and Marine veteran who enlisted in the Marines in 2003, is trying to run as a populist outsider. He wants to eliminate the national gas and diesel tax, freeze electricity rates, and set up some kind of clean energy fund. Fine. But Republicans have already started digging, and what they found is... interesting. A controversial Reddit post from 2013. Posts from roughly five years ago discussing communism and socialism. Platner says he can handle the attack ads: "I'm pretty sure I can handle it." We'll see about that, champ.
The real story here isn't Platner's Reddit history, though that's certainly entertaining. It's that the Democratic Party can't get out of its own way. They needed one clean launch. One unified front against Collins. Instead, their nominee is publicly distancing himself from Schumer before he's even officially on the ballot. When asked what his pitch to Maine voters is, Platner said he's focused on "trying to bring down costs for working Mainers." Which would be more convincing if his party hadn't spent the last four years lighting those costs on fire.
Collins, for her part, isn't losing sleep. "I believe that will be the conclusion of Maine voters," she said when asked about her chances. Translation: I've won this seat five times. Bring the oyster farmer.
Democrats wanted a unified front. They got a candidate who won't back his own leader, a Reddit trail that reads like a college socialist's diary, and a Republican incumbent who's been winning in Maine since before Platner got his first tattoo in 2007. According to Fox News, this is supposed to be one of the most competitive Senate races in the country. If this is what competitive looks like for Democrats, Collins might want to start writing her sixth acceptance speech now.
