Politics
Maine Democrats grapple with who is best to take over Graham Platner’s movement
Maine Democrats want to hold onto Graham Platner’s progressive base — but they can’t agree on who is best positioned to carry the torch.
That indecision is creating a fractured field heading into an unpredictable late July nominating convention for one of the most important Senate races on the 2026 map. Now, various candidates are rushing to prove they are the most aligned with Platner’s policies, without tying themselves too closely to the disgraced oysterman.
Labor organizations and the national progressive organizing group Our Revolution are backing former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, who campaigned with Platner during the primary and got the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign earlier this year. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a former Platner surrogate, is also behind Jackson, as are dozens of current and former state lawmakers.
But some state legislators and local activists who had backed Platner are flocking to Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who similarly ran as a progressive in the gubernatorial primary. And former public health official Nirav Shah is touting more progressive policy positions than he did when he ran for governor in an attempt to break off some Platner supporters. Behind the scenes, he is also working to recruit former organizers from Platner’s campaign, according to two people familiar with the strategy and granted anonymity to discuss it.
The trio of former gubernatorial candidates are the leading figures in a crowded field aiming to win over a yet-to-be-selected group of 600 Democratic delegates. Part of that task is convincing Platner’s former supporters that they will carry on the progressive advocacy and fighting spirit that made his candidacy so popular — before he was forced to resign after Blue Light News reported a woman said he had sexually assaulted her. Platner has denied the allegation.
Many of the candidates will make that pitch directly during a debate scheduled for Thursday night. And the stakes couldn’t be higher for national Democrats watching anxiously: Unseating Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is an essential part of the party’s plan to take back control of the Senate this fall.
Platner convincingly won the Democratic Senate primary last month with nearly three quarters of the vote, and had a zealous base of support during the primary. But where his voters and core volunteers go next is unclear.
“People who were vocal supporters of Platner’s have moved to other candidates, and it doesn’t look to me like they moved in a block, that everyone agrees who’s the best next candidate from that movement,” said David Farmer, a Maine Democratic political strategist not involved with the Senate campaign. “And I think that in a truncated process like this, that’s to be expected.”
In just 11 days, Democrats will replace their nominee at a convention in Bangor. This weekend, they will select the delegates who will pick that candidate — a process playing out across all of the state’s 16 counties, with campaigns seeking to recruit and organize delegates who will vote in their favor.
Unions, who were a key Platner booster in his primary against Gov. Janet Mills, have largely gone to Jackson, a logger and longtime union member. The Maine AFL-CIO endorsed Jackson over the weekend, citing his support of workers’ issues in the Maine legislature, along with his track record of winning over rural and working-class voters.
Some of Platner’s biggest supporters in the state House are beginning to coalesce around Bellows, however. That includes state Rep. Valli Geiger, who had been floated by Platner as a potential replacement before she passed on a run. In a Facebook post, Geiger cited Bellows’ track record of standing up to President Donald Trump as secretary of state, along with the fact that she “did not declare as a candidate until after Graham Platner announced he was withdrawing from the race unlike the unseemly rush of so many ambitious men.”
Reached via text, Geiger declined to be interviewed about her support for Bellows.
State Rep. Gary Friedmann, who also previously endorsed Platner, said he is all-in for Bellows. While he agrees with Jackson’s stances and called his association with Sanders and Our Revolution “very compelling,” Friedmann hinted at something Democrats have voiced worry about behind the scenes: That Jackson struggles as a compelling public speaker.
“When it comes to standing up, if there’s a debate with Susan Collins, or the messaging that comes from both candidates, I think Shenna is extremely articulate and compelling,” Friedmann said.
He added: “I think that having a woman to voice that platform is gonna be very important.”
All of the candidates are still figuring out exactly how to capture Platner’s support without tying themselves too closely to him as an individual. A letter circulated by former Platner campaign volunteers that racked up hundreds of signatures as of Tuesday called for the candidate replacing him to adopt a string of progressive commitments on issues including health care, housing and ending “forever wars.” Both Jackson and Bellows signed onto the letter.
During a virtual rally hosted by Our Revolution on Monday, Jackson took time to “acknowledge what everyone on this call has been through” while asking Platner’s supporters to rally behind him, though he never mentioned the oysterman by name.
“I know that there’s real pain, anger, disappointment, and I’m not going to try and to minimize that,” Jackson said. “But look, this movement has always been bigger than one person. It’s about taking on a system rigged against working people.”
Joseph Geevarghese, who runs Our Revolution, called on the movement Platner emboldened to get involved in the delegate process outlined by the Maine Democratic Party.
“This is the perfect opportunity for us to show the establishment that we can organize and win within the system that they created, the Democratic Party process,” he said on the call.
A person close to Bellows, granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy, also acknowledged this dilemma for candidates, calling it “a really delicate dance to walk.”
“It’s not like she’s trying to be Graham Platner or be someone she’s not,” the person said. “She is able to be herself, and I think she, ideologically, is a great bridge for people who were very disheartened by what happened with Platner, but still extremely pissed off about Susan Collins and the Senate majority, and what’s happening in Washington, D.C.”
While Shah’s campaign is recruiting former Platner supporters behind the scenes, the former public health official is also making the pitch explicit in public comments.
“I want all former Platner supporters to know: you have a place in this campaign,” Shah wrote on social media shortly after he launched his candidacy last week.
Maine politics was rocked on Monday by ICE agents’ shooting of a 26-year-old man in Biddeford, with potential Senate candidates rallying around getting the federal agency out of Maine. For many Democrats, it was also a reminder of the importance of supporting the party’s eventual nominee, regardless of who it is.
Democratic State Rep. Morgan Rielly, a former supporter of Platner’s, said he told Jackson that he would support him in the primary. But more important, he said, was the goal of defeating Collins this fall.
“[The Democratic nominee] will have my full support and I will be working hard to get them elected,” Rielly said in a text message. “It’s absolutely crucial we are united and Senator Collins loses on election day.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders says he can’t be everywhere at once — even though some of his allies want him to be.
Democratic socialist Francesca Hong lost by less than 4,000 votes in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary, an outcome several high-profile progressives are blaming on Sanders and other top national progressive leaders for staying out of the race. Some said his endorsement alone could have helped bring in badly needed resources for Hong. Others said the Vermont senator has a responsibility to play widely across the battle map.
Sanders, in an interview, touted a series of progressive wins Tuesday night and brushed off the criticism.
“My response is that we have limited resources and capabilities, and there are a lot of really great candidates who have run for office who we have not endorsed,” Sanders told Blue Light News on Wednesday.
“We can’t endorse every single candidate,” he added. “So, you know, we have to pick and choose and I think that Hong ran a very, very great, and very strong, grassroots campaign, got a lot of people involved and I applaud her for that.”
Hong ultimately lost to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a major victory for establishment Democrats who worried she wouldn’t be able to win a general election in a top battleground. It was a notable blow for the far left that overshadowed progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s win in the Minnesota Senate race the same night.
Sanders and other progressive leaders “have a responsibility, whether they like it or they don’t,” to help steer candidates in the movement, said Cenk Uygur, a progressive activist who co-founded the Young Turks and Justice Democrats. “If they endorse people, it makes a difference. If they don’t endorse people these days, sometimes it makes a bigger difference. Because there’s a certain expectation, and when they don’t deliver on that expectation, it gives people pause. So it feels like, to some degree, they’re shirking their responsibility.”
Uygur also criticized Sanders for saying on a podcast ahead of the primary that he was “not that familiar” with the Wisconsin race.
“I love Bernie, but that’s not true. Sorry, brother, but you have a giant team. Of course somebody on your team knows who’s running for governor in Wisconsin.” Uygur told Blue Light News on Thursday.
One Democratic operative working on progressive campaigns, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the electoral dynamics, also rejected Sanders’ argument, noting the senator won Wisconsin’s presidential primary in 2016.
“He knows Wisconsin very well,” the operative said, adding: “What resources? You’re not cutting checks. [Sanders] endorsing somebody raises the money.”
Sanders in the interview noted primary wins from Flanagan, Rebecca Cooke in Wisconsin’s 3rd District and Matt Little in the crowded race for Rep. Angie Craig’s Minnesota seat — all Democrats he endorsed.
“Needless to say, I’m feeling really very good,” Sanders said. “The American people are catching on that we have an economy that is rigged, the very rich are getting richer while working families are struggling.”
But the Wisconsin governor primary result Tuesday exposed a critical vulnerability for a movement that has largely relied on Sanders and a handful of other headline-grabbing stars, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), to help seal the deal in contentious races as progressives look to prove they can play in competitive seats. The underdog wing of the party, some progressives argue, can’t be selective about where it’s playing if they want to take on a vast and well-funded establishment.
The bulk of the blame is being laid at Sanders’ feet in part because the movement he turbocharged in 2016 has struggled to land on a clear successor. Some progressives argue there’s an overreliance on Sanders and leaders such as Ocasio-Cortez.
Our Revolution, a group born from Sanders’ 2016 campaign but that the senator no longer associates with, blasted the broader progressive ecosystem for not doing more for Hong in a post early Wednesday morning, as the returns in Wisconsin showed Crowley was poised to defeat Hong. Several groups that have backed insurgent progressives in other races declined to join Our Revolution in getting involved in the governor’s race.“We cannot build progressive power while gatekeeping our own movement through the eyes of the establishment,” the group posted.
Sanders pushed back: “Our Revolution is an organization I’ve not had any interaction with, any participation with … for I think nine years,” he said in response. “They do what they want and they say what they want. They have nothing to do with me.”
Our Revolution declined comment on Sanders’ remarks and on its post.
Nina Turner, a former Our Revolution leader and Sanders 2020 co-chair who had backed Hong, said support from “more well-known, more popular, actively elected progressive types … probably would have” made a difference in Hong’s race. She declined to call anyone out specifically for not getting involved.
“The progressive movement is going to have to reckon with how we continue to win around certain personalities,” Turner said. “I don’t think the movement should put all our hopes and dreams on certain personalities to come out or to not come out, because it is their choice and they have a right to their choice, even if I don’t agree with it.”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) was one of the few national progressive figures who had endorsed Hong. He has employed a far more aggressive endorsement strategy than Sanders this primary season and said he sees an advantage to backing candidates early, despite the potential headwinds facing long-shot contenders, as long as they align with him on policy.
But he wasn’t willing to play the blame game in the aftermath of Wisconsin’s primary, saying in a text message that: “We have so many candidates running and I believe progressive leaders have been doing an extraordinary job lifting them up.”
A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez, who has also faced criticism for not backing for Hong, declined to comment.
Not everyone on the left believes Sanders and other progressive stars could have swung a race in which several other factors were working against Hong. The candidate did very little traditional advertising. She faced a barrage of negative press over controversial past social media comments that put her on defense over everything from public safety to Thanksgiving. Several candidates likely siphoned away votes from both Hong and Crowley — including two who dropped out after voting began: Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes.
Dillon Sheehan, the chapter secretary for the Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America, which endorsed Hong, said “it’s entirely possible” big-name progressives like Sanders could have “put her over the edge.”
But “we need candidates who can win without Bernie’s endorsement, he’s not going to be able to endorse forever,” Sheehan said. “I think what this shows is that even without his endorsement, without Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement, [Hong] did fantastic.”
David Crowley has a strategy to win over the voters who backed democratic socialist Francesca Hong on Tuesday: make the governor’s race an existential fight against “MAGA extremism.”
Wisconsin Democrats have spent the past day scrambling to unite the far left and centrist factions of the party after a bitter primary battle defined by questions of electability and how far left of an ideology to pursue. The same is happening in Michigan, where the party has just three months to mend broken fences and get progressive Abdul El-Sayed elected in another competitive state this November.
Crowley told Blue Light News he plans to use GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany and President Donald Trump as the foils that bring everyone together.
“We’re not all going to agree on everything. But I think we agree that the ultimate goal is making sure that we don’t have a MAGA extremist and congressman Tom Tiffany sitting in the governor’s office,” Crowley said in an interview Thursday, adding that the state “has a grand opportunity in putting some level of check on Trump’s agenda” amid the “affordability crisis.”
Democrats view holding onto the governor’s mansion in Wisconsin — a top battleground state that Trump won by just shy of 30,000 votes in 2024 — as critical for acting as a bulwark against Trump. They’re hoping to secure a governing trifecta in the state for the first time since 2010.
Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive who was hand-picked by current Gov. Tony Evers, said he plans to not only fold in the left flank, but also reach out to independents and previous GOP voters who “feel rejected by this current Republican party.” Evers himself ousted GOP then-Gov. Scott Walker in 2018 thanks to a coalition that cut across Democratic strongholds, independents and some Republican-leaning voters.
Crowley also said he’s already talked to “some Republicans who are more interested in defeating Tom Tiffany.”
Trump’s approval rating has been continually slipping, and Crowley’s advisers believe focusing on the cost of living under the Trump administration amid an unpopular Iran war is a sweet spot to hit a broad cross-section of voters.
But even as he committed to reaching out to voters who had backed Hong, Crowley told Blue Light News he would not campaign with some of her top surrogates on the trail — and demurred when asked whether he’d bring on any Hong allies to staff his general election campaign, saying everyone is “welcome” at the table.
When asked whether he would campaign with controversial, leftist social media influencer Hasan Piker, Crowley responded: “No.”
“I don’t know Hasan, but I always want to be focused on Wisconsin voters,” he added.
Hong has committed to hitting the trail with Crowley ahead of November, but many of his allies see her as too much of a political liability to be directly involved. They’re worried her brand of democratic socialism — and past controversial social media posts about defunding the police and canceling Thanksgiving — could affect Crowley’s wider appeal.Crowley also isn’t budging on a key campaign policy issue that divided the primary: He will not embrace the moratorium on data center development that Hong ran on.
“No moratorium,” Crowley said in the interview, adding he and Hong do agree on adding “guardrails” on data center development and operation via a package of legislation.
“I let folks know exactly where I stood on data centers,” he said. “That’s why we were able to not only consolidate many of those undecided voters, but get many rural communities to support us as well, because we have a common-sense approach to make sure that we’re protecting our environment, protecting our water, and protecting ourselves … when it comes down to these data centers.”
Former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who dropped out of the race last month amid sexual assault allegations, was announced as a speaker for a Labor Day event in Ellsworth, Maine, next month.
The event was organized by the groups Hancock County Activists and Acadia Action Peacemakers, according to information shared with the Hancock County Democratic Party. Both have been behind “No Kings” protests and other organized events in the area since the start of last year. Neither responded immediately to inquiries about the event on Thursday.
Platner, who is from nearby Sullivan, Maine, dropped out of the Senate race following a July Blue Light News report that a woman he dated accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021. Platner denied the allegation.
Marcia Myers, the chair of the Hancock County Democratic Party, said the event set to feature Platner was not a sanctioned party event but that the party often shares information about activist-led events in the area. The county party’s Facebook and Instagram posts mentioning Platner’s event were deleted, though the event was still listed on the party’s website.
Platner did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the event on Thursday.
Platner was replaced in the Senate race by former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, as Democrats are seeking to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins in an election of high importance to both parties nationally.
Outside groups supporting Collins have sought to tie Jackson to Platner, noting Jackson, who previously ran for governor, endorsed Platner’s campaign and appeared at rallies for him. Jackson called for Platner to drop out of the race after the sexual assault allegation.
Jalen Beckford contributed to this story.
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