Graham Platner’s political outsider vibe gains steam in Maine among Democrats

Graham Platner, an oyster farmer with a plainspoken style, isn’t a typical Senate candidate. But in a cycle where political outsiders are increasingly gaining traction, candidates like him are no longer outliers — they’re becoming contenders. 

Platner’s candidacy is an early test of that shift. In Maine, where Sen. Susan Collins (R) has long defied political gravity, some early polling suggests he could mount a credible challenge — and outperform more traditional candidates like Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) in the process.

Mills, who is 78 and a familiar face to Mainers, has put out a string of negative ads against the 41-year-old Platner, including highlighting insensitive comments he made about rape. To date, it hasn’t moved the needle in polls. 

An Emerson College poll released in late March, for example, showed Platner ahead of Mills by about 27 points, with Platner receiving support from 55 percent of those surveyed, while Mills received 28 percent. The poll said 17 percent of those polled were undecided. 

“I think it’s not as much an anti-Mills phenomenon as a pro-Platner one,” Democratic strategist Christy Setzer said. “Fairly or not, Mills represents the current Democratic Party to voters — too old, too weak to fight [President] Trump, [which] may be unfair, but the rep nonetheless, not understanding where the base is. 

“Platner, meanwhile, reads as ‘outsider,’ younger, anti-establishment at a time when even the Democrats kind of hate the Democrats.”

Platner isn’t the only outsider candidate benefitting from the trend.

In the last year alone, 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City, defeating former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in the process, while state Rep. James Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett to........

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