Senate

Graham Platner Signals a Problem for Democrats, and the Rest of Us

Platner is too typical of a wave of radical and unprepared Democrats who seem poised to take power.

J.D. Tuccille | 6.12.2026 7:00 AM

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(Illustration: Midjourney)

The "progressive" wing of the Democratic Party is on a roll, winning nominations and elections. Left-wing leaders are taking earned victory laps as they chalk up victories for candidates espousing socialism, hostility to Israel (and often Jews), identity politics, and other leftist positions that were until recently thankfully rare in American politics. But the radicals' support for Maine's deeply troubled Graham Platner, who won the party's nod to compete in the U.S. Senate race, shows the dangers posed by a movement that seemingly holds ideological lunacy as its highest value. It's not clear that anybody is in a position to stop them.

You are reading The Rattler from J.D. Tuccille and Reason. Get more of J.D.'s commentary on government overreach and threats to everyday liberty.

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The Surging Left

"Progressives are on the march," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) trumpeted June 3, even before Platner and other progressives won this week's party primaries. Although not technically a Democrat, the democratic socialist is a leader of his movement's rapid takeover of the party.

A week later, Politico's William Steakin, Lisa Kashinsky, and Andrew Howard reported that "the Vermont senator's endorsed candidates cleaned house on Tuesday, a coast-to-coast show of force headlined by a resounding win for his embattled Senate pick in Maine, Graham Platner, in spite of days of turmoil that had thrown his candidacy into question." Other progressive wins that........

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