A 40-year-old oysterman and Marine veteran is running as a Democrat seeking to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins next year.
Graham Platner is from the Hancock County town of Sullivan and is heavily involved in local government after serving three tours in Iraq as a Marine and one for the Army in Afghanistan.
Platner joins a small and not especially well know field of Democratic challengers, while national Democrats are trying to recruit Governor Janet Mills, who is term limited, to take on Sen. Collins.
Platner has never run for office before.
In his announcement video, he called for universal health care, said “the enemy is the oligarchy,” and asked, “Why are we funding endless wars and bombing children?”
In the video, he also said, “The difference between Susan Collins and Ted Cruz is at least Ted Cruz is honest about selling us out and not giving a damn.”
Platner told ABC News he has friends, who all voted for Donald Trump because they wanted something new and wanted change. He said his understanding of those voters could help steer the Democratic Party, which he described as “quite confused.”
He told ABC he admires the former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and respects Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
Platner told POLITICO he would have supported Sen. Sanders’ recent resolution to block arms sales to Israel.
The Bangor Daily News reports Jordan Wood, a Bristol resident who previously worked in Democratic politics on Capitol Hill, is the best-funded and most active Democrat running so far
