{"id":44580,"date":"2025-10-17T13:13:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=44580"},"modified":"2025-10-17T13:13:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:13:19","slug":"democratic-establishment-targets-maine-working-class-senate-candidate-graham-platner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/10\/17\/democratic-establishment-targets-maine-working-class-senate-candidate-graham-platner\/","title":{"rendered":"Democratic Establishment Targets Maine Working-Class Senate Candidate Graham Platner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Oyster<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oyster farmer Graham Platner is facing Maine Gov. Janet Mills in the state\u2019s 2026 Democratic primary for US Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Graham Platner\/Facebook)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDC\u2019s choice has lost to Susan Collins five times in a row. We can\u2019t afford a sixth,\u201d Platner said of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee partnering with his primary opponent, Gov. Janet Mills.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oct 15, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced<\/a> her candidacy for the US Senate<\/a> on Tuesday, journalists<\/a> noted her campaign<\/a>\u2018s joint fundraising committee<\/a> with the Democratic establishment\u2014which swiftly drew strong criticism, given that she has a primary opponent, Graham Platner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mills entered the race to face off against Republican Sen. Susan Collins next year after weeks of speculation and reporting<\/a> that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had urged the term-limited governor to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graham<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018People Are Being Robbed\u2019: Maine\u2019s Platner Credited for Showing Democrats How to Win Back Trump Voters<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Graham<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As Mills Enters Maine Senate Race, Platner Says Election Is Fight to \u2018Retake Our Party\u2019 for Working Class<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since Platner launched his campaign in August, the oyster farmer and military veteran has positioned himself as a champion of the working class. He has forcefully called out the oligarchy<\/a>, Israel<\/a> dropping<\/a> US bombs on the Gaza<\/a> Strip, President Donald Trump\u2019s attacks<\/a> on US cities, and Collins<\/a>, who has represented Maine since 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChuck Schumer should be focused on fighting Donald Trump<\/a> and protecting healthcare for millions of Americans, not meddling in a Maine primary,\u201d Platner\u2014who has said<\/a> he would not vote for the Senate\u2019s top Democrat to retain his leadership position\u2014wrote<\/a> on social media<\/a> Tuesday. \u201cDC\u2019s choice has lost to Susan Collins five times in a row. We can\u2019t afford a sixth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Platner was responding to news of the Mills campaign\u2019s fundraising partnership with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), which is officially led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and works to elect party members to the chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A DSCC spokesperson\u00a0claimed<\/a>\u00a0in a Wednesday email to\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>\u00a0that it \u201chas not made any formal endorsements this cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/the_vello\/status\/1978215646396608689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1978215646396608689%7Ctwgr%5Ed65b91c58850bd3928f4925cf769a0652129712d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2026-maine-senate-race<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReminder: the DSCC is not some amorphous blob,\u201d stressed<\/a> Zeteo<\/em> reporter Prem Thakker, pointing to Gillibrand and the group\u2019s vice chairs: Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly<\/a> (Ariz.), Adam Schiff (Calif.), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.). \u201cThese are the Democrats now fundraising for someone to become the oldest freshman (age 79) ever elected to a six-year term. All to stop Graham Platner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaron Regunberg, a climate lawyer and former Rhode Island state representative who wrote<\/a> about Platner for The Nation<\/em> in August, also took aim at the Senate leaders, who have strong ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand: relentlessly determined to stop the Democratic Party<\/a> from ever winning back control of the Senate,\u201d Regunberg said<\/a> of the Maine Senate Victory 2026 committee. \u201cMight as well call this the AIPAC<\/a> Victory Fund.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lever<\/em>\u2019s David Sirota said<\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s very important to understand that Senate Democratic leaders deeply hate the idea of Democratic voters being allowed to choose Democratic Senate nominees without the interference of party bosses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schumer and other key Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY), have also refused to endorse their own party\u2019s nominee in next month\u2019s New York<\/a> City mayoral race: democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny fantasies held that Democrats were interested in change have been proven undoubtedly false,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0David Griscom, a writer and co-host of the podcast\u00a0Left Reckoning<\/em>. \u201cThey are afraid of the kind of politics represented by Graham Platner and Zohran Mamdani, and they\u2019ll do anything they can to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/SohaliV\/status\/1978223434933965291?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1978223434933965291%7Ctwgr%5Ed65b91c58850bd3928f4925cf769a0652129712d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2026-maine-senate-race<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunrise Movement<\/a>, a youth-led climate group, declared<\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s moves like this that have left Democratic Party leaders without any credibility. One day, they defend the need for \u2018neutrality\u2019 when it hurts the left. Then, the next, they intervene in primaries themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some critics highlighted<\/a> Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin\u2019s calls<\/a> for neutrality in primaries and the recent ouster<\/a> of former DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, who supported<\/a> primary challenges to \u201casleep-at-the-wheel\u201d Democrats in blue districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry but how is this any different from the accusations the DNC made about David Hogg\u2019s efforts to influence Dem primaries when they booted him?!\u201d former journalist and Democratic political strategist Tara McGowan said<\/a> of the Mills-DSCC committee. \u201cAnd they wonder why the Democratic Party has literally the worst approval rating in history. The blind hubris is ASTOUNDING.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hogg himself simply said<\/a>, \u201cWell DC has their pick,\u201d and shared multiple social media posts about Platner\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Platner has secured endorsements<\/a> from Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> (I-Vt.) and unions<\/a> including the United Auto Workers<\/a>. The committee boosting his opponent is sending some new support his way. Writer Charlotte Clymer said<\/a> that \u201cI had planned to stay out of the Maine Senate race for a while and respectfully consider the competing visions of both major candidates. But I can\u2019t do that now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is wildly inappropriate for the DSCC to jump into a competitive primary in such a brazen and shameless way, eight months before voters go to the polls,\u201d Clymer said. \u201cThis is a complete failure to read the room. It is incompetent. It is political malpractice. The DSCC has clearly learned nothing, and they would rather deploy the same tired, divisive strategies instead of empowering Democratic voters and earning our confidence in their process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have great respect for Gov. Janet Mills, but she is being advised very poorly on the contours of this political moment when it comes to what Democratic voters want to see,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019ll be supporting Graham Platner in the primary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/ryangrim\/status\/1978467405920706686?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1978467405920706686%7Ctwgr%5Ed65b91c58850bd3928f4925cf769a0652129712d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2026-maine-senate-race<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mills joining the race also hasn\u2019t stopped the fundraising dollars from flowing to Platner. His adviser Joe Calvello\u00a0noted<\/a>\u00a0on social media Wednesday morning: \u201cFUN FACT: Since Gov. Mills launched her campaign, Graham Platner\u2019s campaign has received a donation every eight seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oyster farmer Graham Platner is facing Maine Gov. Janet Mills in the state\u2019s 2026 Democratic primary for US Senate. \u00a0(Photo by Graham Platner\/Facebook) \u201cDC\u2019s choice has lost to Susan Collins five times in a row. We can\u2019t afford a sixth,\u201d Platner said of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee partnering with… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44580"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44581,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44580\/revisions\/44581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}