Graham Platner
I was pleased when Chuck Schumer persuaded Janet Mills to run against Susan Collins for the US Senate. Janet Mills is smart and tough. She responded so firmly to Donald Trump at the President’s annual dinner with Governors in 2025, Trump wanted the 2026 dinner to be just with Republicans. Term-limited, outgoing Janet Mills seemed like the perfect choice.
Not, however, to Maine Democrats. By March 31, Graham Platner was leading Janet Mills 61-28 in a poll and that resembled polls before that date and after. By March 31, 2026, Graham Platner had raised $12 million. He spent a good deal to make certain that Mainers (I don’t love the term Mainiacs) knew who he was so on March 31 he had $2.7 million left as cash on hand. During that period, Janet Mills raised $5.4 million and had $1 million cash on hand. Defeated in the polls and in the money race, she paused her campaign.
Graham Platner was doing pretty well against the Republican incumbent, too. Maine is one of the four states with a Republican incumbent the Democratic leadership is targeting to flip the Senate. In a poll completed on March 31, Graham Platner led Collins 48-39. That poll was a slight outlier. In other polls in March and April, Graham Platner led Collins by 4,6,7, and 7 points.
Susan Collins leads in the money race. To Graham Platner’s total of $12 million, she had raised $13.2 million. To his $2.7 million cash on hand on March 31, Collins had $10 million. Graham Platner needs to raise more money.
How did Graham Platner get into a position where he is more popular than either the successful governor or the long time Senator and had enough support to defeat the one and challenge the other?
On December 5, 2025, Politico published a piece by Michael Kruse about Graham Platner. Usually, when I write a piece, I look at Wikipedia, the candidate’s website, the opponent’s website, and the local press. I google scandal for people I want to know about and find what the media has had to say about the candidate and his opponent. This is ordinarily not quite as easy for a candidate like Graham Platner who has not held political office. Michael Kruse provides more an extraordinary amount of information about Graham. Platner. A fair amount of what I have to say about Graham Platner, I have learned from Kruse.
Graham Platner is 41 years old. He was born in coastal Blue Hill, Maine and grew up mostly in nearby Sullivan. His grandfather, Warrant Platner, was an internationally known architect and furniture designer. He made money. Graham Platner’s parents divorced. He lived mostly with his mom, but his dad lived nearby and influenced his life. Bronson Platner, was a well-known Maine attorney who, however, was imperfect. He appeared once before the Board of Bar Overseers, acknowledged he gave his client erroneous advice. The Board concluded there was nothing more to do, he was unlikely to provide that kind of erroneous advice again. His mom Leslie Harlow currently owns a restaurant called Iornbound, upscale enough to be described as “fine dining.” His wife, Amy Gertner, who he married in 2024, was an elementary and middle school art teacher.
As a child, Graham Platner was fascinated by the military. His preschool teacher remembers him as a three years old singing the Marine Corps Hymn. After preschool, he went to the local Mountain View Elementary School.
In 1999, his parents sent him, the older son, to Hotchkiss Academy. Five years earlier, rival Deerfield Academy’s student newspaper described Hotchkiss as the most environmentally aware of the top prep schools. By the end of the century, Hotchkiss had shed its well-deserved reputation for quick expulsions of students. As a freshman, Graham Platner could have resurrected that reputation entirely on his own. He did not like the place and did not last the school year. He was expelled because of a combination of not going to class and bad behavior.
Graham Platner returned home to attend the John Pabst Memorial High School. Named after a Jesuit Missionary, the school was founded as a Catholic School. Closed in 1980 by the Portland Diocese, it was reopened by community members led by alum John Sekera, who served as principal until 2002. Though a private school, the Pabst School mostly served students from surrounding communities that did not have their own secondary school. The state of Maine paid tuition for students in those circumstances. Graham Platner’s town of Sullivan had a high school, but his parents preferred and could afford to send their son to the 500 pupil avowedly college prep school that had been recreated by the community. Recently, the school transformed itself again. It is now a boarding school.
Graham Platner’s sport in high school was wrestling. He has said he was enticed by “the one-on-one kind of violence.” A teammate remembered him winning matches “just by sheer will.”
Graham Platner was also interested in the group violence of war. He was a voracious independent reader – especially histories and war stories. His high school honors project was on Pat Barker’s Regeneration Trilogy – three novels about the trauma of war, the internal tensions of “soldier-pacifists”, and a psychologist’s treatment of soldiers. Among the characters who show up in the trilogy and, presumably, Graham Platner’s honor’s project are fictional soldiers and poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.
Graham Platner left high school with a sense of service and a desire for adventure. His Pabst High School yearbook described him as “most likely to start a revolution.” The 2003 yearbook did not say where Graham Platner’s revolution might happen, but it carried a photograph of him with a sign saying “FREE KOSOVO, CHECHYA, KASHMIR, PALESTINE, KURDISTAN, TIBET.” Graham Platner was apparently targeting Serbia, Russia, India, Israel, Turkiya, and China. If he was planning an American revolution, he did not make that clear. Graham Platner did have a word to say to George W. Bush whose plane stopped in Bangor for a rally at the airport. Whether it was the “No War” sign or his shout "Don't attack Iraq. If our best generals tell us not to go to war, why should we?" He was kicked out of the Bush rally at the Bangor Airport.
After graduation, when Graham Platner was old enough to do so without parental permission, he joined the Marines. He angered his father, but had the defining experience of his life. He had three tours of duty as a Marine and a fourth after he returned the US. A troubled student at George Washington University, he tried to reup with the Marines. His tattoos nixed that plan. He joined the Army Reserves and had one more tour of duty, just in time for the Obama surge.
During his first tour of duty, a friend with him in a Humvee was so seriously wounded Graham Platner thought the friend was killed. Non-stop responding to attacks and attacking, non-stop deaths and wounding after wounding made his second tour of duty one that was almost all combat. His third tour was on an “on-call ship.” He did no fighting, but enjoyed camaraderie. He and his shipmates did a lot of drinking, hell-raising, demonstrating their toughness. They got themselves tattoos. Graham Platner got his controversial Death’s Head tattoo in Croatia. He was coping with his mates’ PTSD and his own. But there is nothing in his politics, then or now, that would suggest that when he got that tattoo, he was imagining himself to be a Nazi. He was getting a tattoo that made him look tough.
When he was finally at home, he acted out much of his PTSD in writing on Reddit and elsewhere. Not all of it was misogynistic or racist or angry. Some of it was thoughtful and troubled.
It’s hard to explain how much I enjoyed combat. I think that our modern society is very likely the most unwelcoming of warriors who enjoyed war. Not in any malicious or purposeful way, just because virtues in combat (aggression and intense emotional connection with comrades) have almost no place in our very safe yet emotionally distant society…[T}here was a reason we joined the infantry, and it’s not because we weren’t angry young men…. We all volunteered, we all knew what we were getting ourselves into, but when you are 19 or 20 and you watch a close friend die or be horrifically injured, it’s a terrible thing. I’ve come to the conclusion that there really isn’t a place for me in the civilian world. It's the numbness that sucks the most. Nothing really makes me ‘feel’ anymore. Given the choice of a safe, stable and fulfilled civilian life or another tour like Ramadi in 2006, I wouldn’t even hesitate.
Graham Platner did not finish his degree at George Washington. He moved in with his mom and got political enough to support Bernie Sanders for President in 2016. Then he took a year and went back to Afghanistan doing security and making some money. With the money he earned as seed money, his 100% disability VA benefits as a fall back, he went to work for and earned the appropriate licenses to be able to take over the oyster farm owned by a relative and family friend.
Even then Graham Platner was disgusted with Maine Senator Susan Collins failure to stand up to Donald Trump. But he was settling in. He married elementary and middle school art teacher Nancy Gertner in 2023. He went regularly to his therapist at the VA. He had taken over the oyster farm. He was living a normal life.
Then Daniel Moraft and Lean Fan came to visit. They had a goal. Find blue collar Democrats and help them run for office. Their previous effort had succeeded in making Nebraska’s Dan Osborn a serious candidate for the US Senate. Osborn did not win in 2024, but is leading in at least one poll in 2026. They had had hopes for Nathan Sage of Iowa, but he did not gain traction. And they had considered another Maine candidate who appeared to have a problematic skeleton in his closet. Their meeting with Graham Platner went so well, they brought in a other professionals to meet him.
They learned that Graham Platner followed this stuff. He knew who Dan Osborn was, Nathan Sage, too. He thought through their proposition with friends and family and he was on board. He was, however, too good to be true.
When Michael Kruse wrote his piece for Politico, it was not at all clear that Graham Platner would escape the fallout from the Death’s Head, Nazi-like tattoo that he covered up with a Celtic Knot tattoo when it became controversial. Nor was it clear that he would escape his misogynistic and racist Redditt remarks.
Kruse thought Graham Platner had not been forced out of the race because Donald Trump has changed the rules. Trump, I think, has not changed the rules for every politician. As a consequence of Donald Trump, the rules are different for those who have a sufficient following of people who love what you stand for; who even love you. If they have become devoted enough, you can cover over your past faults. Your past PTSD behavior can be covered over just as a Totenkopf-resembling tattoo can be turned into a Celtic Knot.
This is not to say that there aren’t Republicans who will claim that Graham Platner is a Nazi. They remind the public that the Nazis were National Socialists, and claim someone on the left can be a Nazi. But the claim does not take for Graham Platner. He is to the left of Governor Janet Mills who had to quit the primary, not so much because of ideological differences but because she never convinced the Maine Democrats that she wanted to the their Senator or would defeat Susan Collins who was, after all, younger than she is.
Graham Platner has a kind of predecessor in Maine. Jared Golden, the Democratic Congressman from the very Republican 2nd Congressional District of Maine had a different kind of PTSD experience. His resurrection came after being found working in a pizza joint by a Bates College admissions officer. After college, he worked for Susan Collins and liked her, learned from her. He is finishing his third term as the Democrats most conservative Member of Congress and is not running for reelection.
In Jared Golden’s place, we have Graham Platner, no longer quite as angry as he used to be, no longer getting tattooed with the most dangerous looking tattoo he could find, but expressing the disdain he developed for Republicans by running against Susan Collins. He has a following in Maine. Outsiders worry that he is a Trump-like radical, but of the left. We don’t really know what he will be like as a Senator. To me, he seems more like the John Fetterman we met when he was initially running for the Senate. Graham Platner is leading in the polls, but not in the money race. Help him with enough money to keep him ahead of Susan Collins. DONATE to Graham Platner’s campaign.
If Platner wins and some of the Senate candidates below win their elections, we would see something quite new in American politics.
Nebraska: Dan Osborn is running for the Senate in Nebraska as an independent, but with the tacit support of the state Democratic Party. He is a former mechanic in the Navy who became a labor leader as a civilian and led a regional strike against Kellogg’s. In a Tavern Research May Poll (That’s two Ls) funded by Contours, Inc (an organization committed to giving voters a greater voice), Dan Osborn led the incumbent Pete Ricketts 47-42. In February, in a poll sponsored by Dan Osborn, Ricketts led 48-47. Although Pete Ricketts official fund raising is misleading because he is a multimillionaire, he appears to have about as much money as Dan Osborn. Ricketts raised $4.9 million and, on March 31, had $1.1 million yet to spend. Dan Osborn raised $3.9 million and, on March 31, had $1.1 million yet to spend. DONATE to Dan Osborn’s campaign. This time he could be elected. See Len’s Political Note #765
Montana: Seth Bodnar is running for the Senate in Montana as an independent. He does not have the tacit approval of the state Democratic Party, but he does have the actual approval of former Democratic Senator Jon Tester. He is also the beneficiary of the current Republican Senator who had been up for election, but who pulled a switcheroo so that when he announced he would not run, the only Republican candidate was former US Attorney Kurt Alme. There are no polls for Bodnar v Alme. But with the first quarter of 2026 in, there is information about fund raising. So far, the two candidates are evenly matched. Seth Bodnar has raised $1.4 million. He had $1.1 million at the end of the quarter. Kurt Alme has raised $900,000. He had $900,000 at the end of the quarter. There are Democrats who hope to win the primary. The candidate with the most money had $100,000 at the end of the quarter. DONATE to Seth Bodnar. He could win this. See Len’s Political Note #797
South Dakota: Brian Bengs is attempting the same route as Osborn and Bodnar in South Dakota. His opponent, Senator Mike Rounds, son of a Republican pol, is better prepared having raised $3.8 million and taking care to have $2.9 million on March 31. Brian Bengs raised $600,000 and had $50,000 at the end of the quarter. In February, Public Policy Polling found Rounds leading Brian Bengs 47-35. Bengs has a background as a military lawyer. In his retirement, he has been a park ranger. He ran as a Democrat in 2022 and was clobbered by John Thune. This time feels different, but it is different enough? A Bengs win would be a long shot. Try it, though. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #774
A Word About the Great Voter Shift.
Four or five thousand years ago, the English language had a Great Vowel Shift. The way people spoke the language changed. For instance, the animal we now pronounce “sheep,” with long es changed from being pronounced as if it were spelled “shape.” As Richard Nixon courted voters in the South, there was a Great Voter Shift. Remembering Lincoln and Emancipation, white Southerners had been predominantly Democrats. Blacks, to the extent they could act politically, were Republicans. Nixon courted white Southerners and the political world changed. Most white Southerners became Republicans. Most Black Southerners, to the extent they could act politically, became Democrats. FDR and Truman had paved the way. Virginia has elected a Black Governor and a Black Lt. Governor – both Democrats. The Speaker of the Virginia House of Representatives is Black as is the State Senate majority leader. Georgia has elected a Black US Senator and may well elect a Black woman as governor in November. All are Democrats.
Mississippi. The US Supreme Court has changed politics in the former Confederate states. No matter how much the members of the Court deny it, the Callais decision has legitimized racial discrimination in favor of the dominant white population. Even with about 15% of Black Mississipians barred from voting, the percentage of Black voters in the state is 37%. Scott Colom, a Black man, is the Democratic candidate for US Senator. Before the Great Voter Shift, his father was a Republican candidate for state office in Mississippi. He has been elected District Attorney three times in a majority white district. Can he win in a run for the US Senate? A poll in April by PPP, funded by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Action Fund, found that 53% of the voters in the state wanted someone as Senator other than Republican Cindy Hyde Smith.
Confronted with a head to head choice, though, Hyde-Smith was preferred to Scott Colom by a 42-39 majority. That’s just one poll. It is not necessarily predictive for November. If, however, it is close to predictive, the next question is will the anger that Black people feel in the light of the Callais decision and the probable elimination of the district that has elected the only Black Congressman in Mississippi lead to making up that three percent and more – enough to elect Scott Colom. Cindy Hyde-Smith has raised more money for this campaign -- $5 million of which she had $2.5 million left on March 15. Scott Colom has raised $1.6 million of which $600,00 remained on March 15. DONATE to Scott Colom’s campaign. He does not need to have as much money as Cindy Hyde-Smith to win; he needs enough to compete. See Len’s Political Note #764
Louisiana. The Callais Supreme Court decision was a Louisiana case and had to do with the creation of a second majority Black Congressional district in the state. Louisiana also has a Senate race. Race figures here, too. Thirty percent of the voters in Louisiana are either Black or mixed race. Had the state used its old, non-partisan primary format, we would know who the two finalists were. Congresswoman Julia Letlow, a white woman endorsed by Donald Trump, led the Republican primary with almost 180,000 votes. Farmer and Democratic Party Executive Board Member Jamie Davis , in a race ignored by the press, led the Democratic Party primary with more than 160,000 votes.
Letlow and Davis will probably face off in November anyhow. But each will have to face their second-place finisher in a run off. Both achieved well over 40% of their party’s vote, but neither exceeded 50%. State Treasurer John Fleming had raised $11 million to Letlow’s $4 million in order to come in a relatively distant second. They each entered May with about $1.5 million and will have to raise lot and spend a lot to win the June 27 run off.
Jamie Davis, too will have to spend from his much smaller coffer. He has $200,000 left from his original $600,000. Gary Crockett may have been canny to have held onto money so he could enter the run-off with $600,000. In some ways Gary Crockett, also a Black man, better exemplifies escape from poverty and accommodating work with the world as it is. Jamie Davis tells a great family story of escape from poverty which includes the relative independence of a farmer and his father’s achievement in creating the farm they both now work. I am captivated by Jamie Davis’s story. In a race against Julia Letlow in November and then again in December if neither gets 50% of the vote, I could imagine him capturing the substantial portion of the white vote he needs to get a majority. DONATE to Jamie Davis. If you are otherwise moved, DONATE to Gary Crockett. Even if the press and the Democratic Party ignore the Democratic winner, help them out when the July primary is over.
