BANGOR, Maine \u2014 Republican Sen. Susan Collins believes that Graham Platner, her likely Democratic challenger in November\u2019s midterm elections, is too extreme for voters in her New England state.
\nBut Platner, pushing an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class, argues it is moderate Collins who is the \u201cradical\u201d one.
\nWith the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, Platner is aiming to unseat the longtime Republican senator in left-leaning Maine.
\nThe race is among a handful that could determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in the midterm elections, and the oyster farmer has been forced onto defense in recent weeks amid mounting controversies and negative headlines.
\nIT\u2019S JUDGMENT DAY FOR EMBATTLED DEMOCRAT GRAHAM PLATNER<\/p>\n
While Collins has mostly kept quiet about Platner\u2019s political baggage, she has weighed in on his agenda.
\nAmong his many progressive policy stances, Platner, on his campaign website, urges \u201cpassing a constitutional amendment to ban billionaires buying elections!\u201d
\nAnd he highlights that he\u2019s \u201ca strong supporter of a Medicare for All system\u201d and that he \u201cwill support a path to citizenship and an end to the mass deportation machine.\u201d
\nAsked if Platner is too far to the left for voters in her northern New England state, Collins responded in a Fox News Digital interview last month, \u201cI believe that will be the conclusion of Maine voters. But, obviously, I don\u2019t take anything for granted.\u201d
\nBut Platner challenges that it\u2019s Collins who is too \u201cradical.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy response is that, trying to bring down costs for working Mainers. Trying to make sure that our communities don\u2019t get emptied out because housing has become unaffordable for young people. Trying to create a system in which we are not seeing our health care system utilized as a way of just screwing working people all for the benefit of a health care insurance CEO,\u201d Platner responded in a Fox News Digital interview last month.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s radical at all,\u201d he added, claiming: \u201cI think, in fact, that what most Mainers agree is what we have to be doing.\u201d
\nRather, he claimed that \u201cwhat\u2019s radical is somebody like Susan Collins, who, for decades now, has made sure that we pass policies that are going to help corporations and billionaires to the detriment of working people, supporting over and over and over again, illegal and insane foreign wars.\u201d
\n\u201cShe voted to send me to Iraq, and now she continues to vote to support the war in Iran,\u201d Platner charged. \u201cI\u2019m sorry that I think is much more radical to the people of Maine than having a health care system that doesn\u2019t collapse before our eyes.\u201d
\nPLATNER TO SUPPORTERS: \u2018MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK\u2019<\/p>\n
Despite his numerous controversies, Platner has drawn large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest.
\nDemocrats see Maine as a crucial pickup opportunity in the 2026 midterms as they aim to win back the Senate majority in the fall.
\nBut beating Collins, a moderate who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate and has a history of voting against President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda, won\u2019t be easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by topping then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"