But now the party is confronting the potential costs of that risk. In the last two weeks, revelations that Platner sexted women early in his marriage and accusations from an ex-girlfriend that he was physically threatening have disturbed national Democrats and raised questions about what other damaging revelations might drop between now and November.
“I think we all have this fantasy Mills shocks everyone,” says Adam Lee, a Mills supporter and Democratic fundraiser in Maine. “But Graham has such a huge lead. And here, the people that care about stuff he’s said still care, and the people that don’t care still don’t care.”
Conversations with Democratic strategists in Washington and Maine reveal a frustrated party uncertain about how to proceed. Many are scared to jeopardize Platner’s chances. Others worry about more scandals to come, and say standing behind Platner in the meantime would be abandoning its values. “We are stuck,” as one senior Democratic Senate aide puts it.
From the get-go, Schumer knew the Democrats needed Maine. Without the state, there would be almost zero chance the party could regain the majority in the Senate in November. So Schumer, who is increasingly on borrowed time with his left flank, told allies to flood the state’s septuagenarian governor, who is term-limited, with appeals to do her “patriotic duty.” Collins could be beaten, the pitch went, and the money would be there if Mills would jump in.
But despite her popularity in Maine, Mills’ run never took off. In an era when voters are demanding change, the steady-as-she-goes term-limited Governor could not find traction. Instead Democrats in the state gravitated toward the newcomer. They thought Platner was a compelling figure, a harbormaster and veteran ready to buck the system.
But recently, rumors started swirling that there was another bomb to drop. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported in late May that Platner’s wife had told a campaign staffer he’d sent sexually explicit messages to women early in their marriage. Kik, an app Platner was using to message women, is frequently used for anonymous interaction, which has made it a target of online safety concerns. (Platner has said he only exchanged messages with consenting adult women on the app.) Another story in the Times published Thursday quoted ex-girlfriends who described toxic relationships. One ex, Lyndsey Fifield, who has also worked in Republican politics, said Platner was physically intimidating. He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, she said, and once held her in a room against her will. (Other former partners defended Platner, who acknowledged bad behavior but denies ever physically hurting an ex.)
On the heels of the May stories, Platner flew to Washington to meet with Democratic senators, where he faced questions about what more could surface. He sat for a 30-minute live interview on MS Now with Chris Hayes, who asked whether texts or pictures could still come out. Platner said he wasn’t worried—but he also didn’t say no.
Platner’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests from TIME for interviews after extended conversations with the candidate and people around him in April. At that point, he was already answering for his past indiscretions on the campaign trail, often drawing applause from packed auditoriums as he did so.
The campaign released a memo last week that showed a rise in fundraising even as the scandals swirled. Some in the party rallied behind him. On Friday, Platner appeared at an event in Bar Harbor with U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat. “Platner understood that those years that he came back were not the best years of his life. Then he, unlike others, took accountability for it. And he’s worked to be a better man,” Khanna said. Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii who is widely expected to be Schumer’s understudy in the next Congress, is still planning to join Platner for a fundraiser Sunday night. Send. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who have endorsed him, also underscored their support over the weekend.
Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, who has frequently criticized Platner, told CNN: "The thing he has going for him is the [list of controversies is] so long, you lose count of all the things," Fetterman said. "Every other day, there's a new one."
If Platner wins on Tuesday as expected, he would have until mid-July to drop out of the race in order for the party to appoint a replacement. There’s no indication that’s something he’s considering. But some Democrats are holding out hope. “We have until July 13 for Graham Platner to make a decision that he is not more important than the broader project of preserving our democracy,” says a national party official who lambasted the Platner campaign for its handling of the scandals, calling the “drip, drip, drip” of incremental headlines devastating and a distraction from a favorable midterm cycle.
Karen Varney, a 69-year-old retired school counselor and Democrat from Augusta, spoke to TIME from a girls’ trip in Northport, where she and three other women in their 60s were all sticking by Platner. “I had a friend ask me what exactly sexting is—she’s a retired elementary school teacher,” Varney says. “I told her and she’s like, ‘Is that all?’” Varney has voted for Platner by mail and says she’s canvassing for him on Monday. “For him to apologize and say he’ll do better—when’s the last time you heard a politician say that?” she says. “I have real high hopes. I think he’s still the only way to beat Susan Collins, and I think he’ll be a good disruptor.”
In Ellsworth, independent voter Bobbi O’Brien, who has voted for Collins in the past, was gearing up for the busy wedding season in Maine with her catering and events business when a Platner canvasser came to her door last week. Even the volunteer, O’Brien said, seemed to share in her conflicted feelings in the wake of the recent stories. “We had a long discussion about this. We believe in his fundamentals, ya know—but what is the mud-breaking quotient? And on a broader question, what is the moral base for this country anymore?”
“I can’t say I’m jumping in with both feet. I keep thinking, like, what is our expectation of the people we put in power? What do we want to hold them to vs. what is their message?” O’Brien says. “To me, Graham’s message is really strong, and it resonates with so many middle-class people who feel we’re not being taken seriously and treated fairly in this country. So there’s the dilemma, isn’t it?”
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