Source: Politics<\/p>\n
PORTLAND, Maine \u2014 Darcy Halvorsen, 59, had already cast her ballot early for Graham Platner in Maine\u2019s Democratic U.S. Senate primary when she read news of sexual text messages<\/a> the oysterman had sent while married to a woman who wasn’t his wife.<\/p>\n Halvorsen, who described herself as a Platner skeptic-turned-fan, is back to being a skeptic. As she attended a town hall of his at the Elks Lodge in Portland on Sunday \u2014 at least her eighth Platner event since last fall \u2014 she was regretting the vote.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m feeling very let down, disappointed,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I don\u2019t think it was handled well. I don\u2019t think he took responsibility for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Platner\u2019s continued drumbeat of scandals<\/a> has divided both Democratic Party leaders and voters as they stare down the must-win Senate race. Defeating Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November is crucial to the party\u2019s plans to take back control of the upper chamber and provide a check on President Donald Trump. But even as Platner\u2019s staunch supporters stick with him, his political baggage is threatening to sink him with some Democratic and independent voters heading into the general election, according to interviews with nearly two dozen Maine voters.<\/p>\n Several Democratic voters were hesitant to weigh in on the Senate race, saying they felt Platner\u2019s candidacy was all but certain at this point and sharing their opinion on him was likely to be met with backlash. Others who were planning to vote Democratic in November are now toying with backing Collins or sitting out the Senate race entirely \u2014 a challenge for the likely nominee and his party.<\/p>\n Peter and Kelly Dufour were manning the grill at a Get-Out-the-Vote event for gubernatorial candidate Hannah Pingree in Portland on Saturday and excited about the former Democratic state House speaker\u2019s candidacy for governor. Asked about the Senate race, Kelly put her head in her hands.<\/p>\n The pair were looking to learn more about David Costello, who was Democratic Senate nominee in 2024 and is running in the primary again this year \u2014 the only Democrat candidate on the ballot besides Platner and Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign in April.<\/p>\n Peter said he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d by Collins\u2019 votes in the past few years, particularly to confirm judges, but he\u2019s \u201ctorn\u201d over giving up her prime seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee for Platner.<\/p>\n \u201cI want someone of good moral character to be my senator,\u201d he said, describing himself as 50-50 on the race right now.<\/p>\n Kelly said she wasn\u2019t sure if she was 50-50 anymore in light of the latest Platner news.<\/p>\n With Platner, she said, \u201cit just seems like one thing after another.\u201d<\/p>\n Platner and his allies have attributed his past poor conduct to his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol use after leaving the military. He has said he found community after moving back to Maine and asked voters to judge him on who he is now. But some Maine voters are still skeptical of his story of redemption.<\/p>\n Kathy Bonk, a Brooksville resident and president of the Maine chapter of the National Organization of Women, plans to vote for Mills in Tuesday\u2019s primary, though she expects Platner to prevail.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of press coverage about, \u2018Well, we\u2019ll let Maine voters decide.\u2019 The Maine Democratic voters are going to decide the primary, but then you put that question to all Maine voters in the general,\u201d she said. \u201cI just think there\u2019s a number of people that after everything that\u2019s come out on Platner just can\u2019t bring themselves to vote for Platner.\u201d<\/p>\n Some Democrats are hoping that a poor showing<\/a> from Platner in Tuesday\u2019s primary would help them convince him to step aside and allow the state party to replace him with another candidate. But the idea seemed fairly ludicrous to most voters in Maine, given not only Platner\u2019s record of surviving scandals but also his strong base of supporters \u2014 many of whom see his controversies as outside attacks on his movement that have only hardened their resolve for him.<\/p>\n \u201cMainers don\u2019t want to see one of their own cut down at the knees,\u201d said Constantine Dixon, a 36-year-old from Portland who attended the Sunday town hall for Platner.<\/p>\n Platner has inspired many Maine voters in a way few other candidates have in the state\u2019s recent political history, drawing massive crowds like few in the state have seen and going from an unknown oysterman to consistently leading the sitting governor in primary polls. Many of his backers brush off his recent controversies as less important than the issues he is running on: universal health care, getting money out of politics, and making the state affordable for working people.<\/p>\n He has maintained support from lawmakers like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) rallied with him in Bar Harbor on Friday, and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), in his first public display of support, hosted a virtual fundraiser<\/a> for him on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cSince this campaign launched, we have been and remain deeply humbled by the support and loyalty of this movement,\u201d Ben Chin, Platner\u2019s campaign manager, said in a statement. \u201cMainers know Graham, they understand what he stands for, and they believe in what this campaign is fighting for. Lifting people up and fighting for working Mainers has been and always will be our priority.\u201d<\/p>\n Days after reports of the extramarital sexting, the New York Times published<\/a> accounts of several of Platner\u2019s ex-girlfriends who recalled disturbing patterns of behavior. One woman alleged that he had grabbed her in ways that left marks and once locked her in a room.<\/p>\n Platner\u2019s campaign acknowledged he sent sexual text messages to other women while married, but had already addressed the issue with his wife. He admitted to being a \u201cbad boyfriend\u201d in past relationships but said he had never been violent.<\/p>\n At the town hall in Portland on Sunday<\/a>, Platner was received enthusiastically by hundreds of supporters. Some attendees said they showed up specifically to indicate their support for him after a difficult week.<\/p>\n Charlotte Brown, an unenrolled voter, said she had supported Collins until the senator\u2019s vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In Platner, she finally found a politician who \u201crepresented us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to come to stand up for him with all the attacks,\u201d she said. \u201cWe wanted him to know that we have his back.\u201d<\/p>\n Platner\u2019s supporters, which include many older women who make up the core of the Democratic Party in Maine, largely don\u2019t condone his past behavior \u2014 but they believe in his personal growth.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened in his personal life was a long time ago,\u201d said Janet Miles, an Air Force veteran attending an event for Pingree over the weekend. \u201cPeople change. Do I approve of the things he did? Definitely not. If he did all those things a week ago, that would be different.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was really upset when I heard his comments about women drinking and rape,\u201d said Cathy Walter, a retiree from Gorham, Maine, referencing Platner\u2019s Reddit history<\/a> that was uncovered last fall. In posts more than a decade ago, Platner had written that sexual assault victims should take responsibility and avoid alcohol so as not to end up in a \u201ccompromising situation.\u201d<\/p>\n But Walter appreciated how Platner owned up to his past conduct and said what happened \u201cdoes not disqualify him.\u201d She\u2019s taking cues from national leaders on whether he can still beat Collins in November.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m watching, what is Bernie Sanders saying? What is Elizabeth Warren saying?\u201d Walter said. \u201cThey would be pulling their support if he couldn\u2019t get elected.\u201d<\/p>\n Platner\u2019s political rise has captivated the state since his campaign launch last August. News reports about his old social media posts and a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol did not meaningfully slow his momentum. Mills, who was recruited for the race by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, ended up suspending her campaign at the end of April, as Platner continued to lead her in fundraising and public polls.<\/p>\n Mills has not endorsed Platner, and some of his skeptics are planning to vote for her in the primary. The governor hasn\u2019t publicly remarked on the race other than reminding a Maine Trust for Local News columnist<\/a> a week ago that she remains on the ballot.<\/p>\n Mills campaign signs still dotted Portland neighborhoods this weekend. In Portland\u2019s Back Bay, one sign was improvisationally stapled to a wooden post. Written by hand in blue marker was a reminder for passersby: \u201cShe\u2019s still in! Vote!\u201d<\/p>\n National Republicans have been gearing up for a general election battle against Platner for months, with the pro-Collins super PAC Pine Tree Results launching ads last month that focused on Platner\u2019s Reddit comments and tattoo. In the aftermath of the recent controversies, Collins told reporters in Maine<\/a> on Friday that Platner had \u201ca lot of questions to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n Halvorsen, the former Platner fan who was frustrated with his recent scandals, said she could not remember seeing Maine Democrats so at odds over something \u2014 and she recalled many contested primaries in the state. On social media, she said, she\u2019d faced attacks for being a Platner skeptic, attacks for being a fan, and now attacks for being ambivalent about him.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump wants us to be divided,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what\u2019s happening in Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n