Opinion

DOUG SCHOEN: Far-left Democrats keep saving Republicans from themselves

From Maine's Graham Platner to Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed, radical candidates risk alienating moderate voters

By Doug Schoen Fox News

Published June 17, 2026 5:00am EDT

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With the nomination of Graham Platner in Maine on June 9, the Democratic Party’s record of advancing extreme, left-wing progressive candidates for Congress has begun to take full form.

Indeed, Democrats are set to enter the midterm general election cycle potentially with a slate of nominees whose positions and backgrounds may do more to help rescue the GOP than anything Republicans have done or will be able to do for themselves.

Despite an arguably favorable political environment for the Democrats – who lead the generic congressional vote by five points – a divided Republican majority in both chambers, and an extremely angry electorate who now give President Donald Trump a job approval rating of 40% – about four points below what it was at this point in the 2018 cycle – the Democratic Party has yet again taken steps to shoot itself in the foot before what may have been emerging as a 2018-style landslide.

Platner, who has been deeply embroiled in scandal after scandal, just became the new Democratic standard-bearer in Maine, securing slightly more than 70% of the vote – and in turn, risking Democrats’ chances of flipping a crucial seat needed to win control of the Senate come November.

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PRIMARY ELECTIONS IN MAINE AND SOUTH CAROLINA: 'MOVEMENT ABOUT US'

Graham Platner addresses the crowd at his watch party at a YMCA in Blue Hill, Maine, June 9, 2026, after winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)

Indeed, Platner is both so extreme and so compromised that his support from Democratic leadership, along with other extremist candidates, could well become a deciding issue in the midterms.

Between allegations of abusive behavior in past relationships, reports that he........

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