Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner insists controversies over his past online remarks and a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol have only “strengthened” his insurgent campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins in next year’s midterm elections.
The progressive oysterman says he’s seeing bigger and more enthusiastic crowds for his insurgent bid since he admitted past mistakes.
“It is amusing for me to watch the campaign described in the media as collapsing or falling apart when internally, we frankly have not felt this strong since the beginning,” Platner told NBC News. “It hasn’t sunk my campaign. In fact it seems, in many ways, it’s strengthened us.”
Platner is vying with Gov. Janet Mills in a Democratic primary to take on Collins, 72, who is expected to seek a sixth term representing the blue-trending Pine Tree State.
The race is considered a must-win for Democrats as they seek to retake the Senate, where Republicans now hold a 53-47 edge.
He says Democrats should welcome supporting people like him who have done and said things they regret, especially younger people in the internet age.
“A lot of Americans also want to have hope that you can change and that you can evolve, and that we can have a society that gives grace and forgiveness to people,” Platner said. “Because if we can’t, if we think that people are just ossified into who they are right now, and can never be something different, then what’s the point?”
Platner burst onto the political scene last summer with an inspirational life story and a personal profile that could help Democrats regain lost ground with white working-class voters who have shifted to the GOP and fueled the rise of President Trump.
But his bid hit speed bumps when stories revealed that he had a chest tattoo of a skull and crossbones that resembled a Nazi symbol. Platner said he got inked during a drunken night out as a Marine in Croatia and recently had it covered up.
Reporters also dug up insensitive racial remarks he made on Reddit, which Platner also dismissed as signs of ignorance from a guy who was at the time working as a bartender in predominantly white, rural Maine.
Some polls have shown Platner running ahead of Mills, who would be 78 upon taking office if she wins.
— Dave Goldiner / New York Daily News
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