Politics

‘This just isn’t good’: Democrats hold their breath on Platner

Published

3 months ago

June 5, 2026

The latest accusations against Maine oyster farmer Graham Platner are leaving fellow Democrats in an uncomfortable holding pattern until Tuesday’s primary.

Some Democrats are wishcasting that Gov. Janet Mills — who suspended her campaign for Senate in April but is still on the ballot — could pull off a shocking upset in the election. Her allies in recent days have reminded supporters that Mills is on the ballot, but she has done no formal campaigning.

Others are putting their hope in an even unlikelier scenario: that Platner will exit the race on his own and allow the state Democratic Party to replace him at its convention in July.

Those wanting him out are praying that a significant protest vote emerges in Tuesday’s primary, where Platner is the only serious candidate still in the race. Platner polled at 76 percent to 10 percent for Mills in a University of New Hampshire poll conducted in late May, shortly before the latest allegations, setting a possible bar to measure how well he does on Tuesday.

“If we see out of the results on Tuesday that Mills was getting a lot more votes than one would think of somebody who suspended their campaign, I think there’s a sign that there’s a lot of protest and angst within the primary voters,” said Adam Cote, a longtime Maine Democrat who faced off with Mills in the 2018 gubernatorial primary and has not endorsed in the Senate race. “And that’s just the primary voters, that’s not even getting to the general election.”

If Platner bleeds a significant number of Democratic voters to Mills it could ramp up pressure on him to drop out of the race, multiple top Democratic strategists told Blue Light News on Friday.

But such a scenario would also further deepen divisions in a party that needs to be united to defeat GOP Sen. Susan Collins this fall. During an appearance on MSNOW Thursday, Platner denied allegations of violence against an ex-girlfriend and reaffirmed his position in the race, saying he has “not once” considered dropping out. He has a scheduled campaign rally Friday night in Bar Harbor.

Many of Platner’s supporters remain on his side and dismissive of a recent New York Times report, painting it as character assassination.

On Thursday, the Times reported that Platner displayed “disturbing” behavior with several former partners. One of the women in the Times report also said Platner knew that his tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol — contrasting his public statements about it — and produced private texts to friends long before he publicly denied the knowledge, stating that he’d told her so.

It has led numerous Democrats to share concern about Platner’s candidacy.

“If he were running in Jersey, he’d either be thrown off the ballot or buried under the Meadowlands,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said Friday, citing the latest allegations. “I think people in Maine should consider a different candidate right now. You know, Janet Mills is still on the ballot. I think people should be voting for another Democrat next week.”

Moderates like Gottheimer who were already not big fans of Platner were in the minority in speaking out publicly to say his past is disqualifying. Behind the scenes, however, there’s growing concern about his viability in November, especially given the importance of turning out moderate, middle-aged women that are a crucial bloc of Maine’s graying electorate.

Maine is the only blue state on Senate Democrats’ target list, and taking it out of play could sink the party’s strategy for flipping the chamber.

“In a seat that we critically need to pick up to have any chance of taking the Senate, this just isn’t good,” said a longtime Democratic fundraiser, granted anonymity to discuss the race candidly. “Doing a last-minute sub might be the best option, or the only option, but it certainly doesn’t give a lot of comfort to those of us who ask people to write checks.”

“If we have to wait till after the primary and hope they can talk him into dropping out … that would appeal to me,” said the fundraiser, who is also a major donor.

A Democratic Party official based in another state said they “don’t see pressure for him to drop out really ratcheting up until after the primary results.”

“That’s when the knives would really come out, especially if there’s another story with more allegations,” the official said.

Still, even among those who are hoping for a switch, there’s growing acceptance Platner probably won’t get on board. Democrats increasingly believe any effort to push him out of the race will have to come from within his supporter network, arguing that Senate Democratic leadership and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has limited leverage to force his hand because he was not the establishment’s pick to begin with.

“There’s pressure on the DSCC to get a different candidate in there,” said a national Democratic strategist working on various Senate campaigns. But “this is not unfortunately something the DSCC can snap their fingers and do.”

The DSCC did not respond to requests for comment.

Two progressive strategists in Platner’s orbit confirmed there have been no discussions about dropping out, and they are confident Platner will be able to mitigate the damage of recent reports by discussing his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is rallying with Platner in Maine on Friday, said in a statement to Blue Light News that Platner “himself has said he was in a dark place after his military service.”

“No one should excuse his past relationships or attack the women who have come forward, but he has accepted responsibility and worked hard to be a better man,” Khanna said. “He understands he was self-absorbed and misogynistic after tours as a frontline infantryman in Iraq. But he spent four years on the ocean as an oyster farmer and got to a better place. We need grace and redemption in America.”

Platner’s supporters have largely rallied around his cause, dismissing the latest reporting as inconsequential when compared to the magnitude of the policy stakes in the race.

“He was a mean boyfriend when he got out of the military and was drinking. Susan Collins was the defining vote for the Big Beautiful Bill,” said Maine state Rep. Valli Geiger, a Platner supporter.

Geiger, who appeared in a campaign ad for the oysterman earlier this year, said she doesn’t know whether Platner will be able to win in November, particularly if “the mainstream press continues to do character assassination for five months.” But she doubted any Democrat could replace him and maintain the grassroots support he has generated, questioning the motives of those focused on negative stories about him.

“They just want to defeat him. They just want to make sure that the status quo remains in place,” she said. “I think the fight’s worth having.”

Adam Wren, Chris Sommerfeldt, Erin Doherty, Shia Kapos and Melanie Mason contributed to this report.

Politics

Trump wants the Postal Service to radically overhaul mail voting. But ballots are already going out.

Published

1 day ago

September 4, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump’s controversial demands for the Postal Service to overhaul and monitor millions of mail ballots hit another snag on Friday, when North Carolina became the first state in the nation to start sending out ballots for the November election.

In March, Trump signed the initial executive order, which aimed to crack down on mail-in voting — which he regularly alleges without evidence is a vector for widespread voter fraud — and assert an unprecedented amount of federal control over the upcoming elections.

Under this order and the subsequent rule drafted by the U.S. Postal Service, the USPS would refuse to deliver ballots to states that failed to provide lists of eligible mail voters or did not adhere to an approved envelope design style.

Since then, the order has faced legal challenges, and it remains paused by a federal judge’s orders. But the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the new rule to proceed — something current and former election officials from both parties say would be both a legal nightmare that oversteps the federal government’s traditional role in elections and a logistical one that is happening far too close to the November election to implement even if they agreed with it.

“Why the hell are you rocking the boat this late in the game?” said Stephen Richer, a former Republican recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona, who has clashed with Trump allies for defending the security of the 2020 election.

Still, election officials are trying to project a sense of normalcy for voters, particularly in North Carolina, which serves as a test of whether established local election systems can operate normally amid intensifying federal scrutiny.

“I want to emphasize this point because there has been a lot of outside noise: Our county workers are ready,” Sam Hayes, a longtime Republican lawyer in the state and now executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said in a Thursday afternoon press conference.

He added, “All we can do is what we’re doing. … It is business as usual as far as I’m concerned.”

Despite the legal challenges, the Trump administration has continued to press the courts to let it proceed. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to lift an order from a Massachusetts judge which temporarily prevents the USPS from enforcing their rule. It is the second time the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to step in, after winning an earlier victory in which the high court dismissed an earlier hold on the rule as premature.

“The uncertainty is coming from a single activist judge who continues to try and obstruct President Trump from implementing commonsense measures to protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans vote in American elections,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement. “These safeguards for mail ballots were proposed months ago giving election officials ample time to prepare for the 2026 election.”

The USPS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Election officials said that if the rule goes into effect this close to November, it would cause chaos and place added strain on the USPS and election officials. And an anonymous federal whistleblower said in a report circulated earlier this week by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) that the USPS was moving forward in a “secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed process” to try to implement the new system ahead of the midterms.

In the coming weeks, states across the country will follow North Carolina’s lead. Nine other states will begin mailing ballots in the next two weeks, according to a tracker from the National Conference of State Legislatures — with the biggest day for mailing coming 45 days before the election in mid-September.

“It would be so outrageous to try to let this go into effect. It’s hard to even imagine,” said Ben Hovland, a senior fellow for democracy at the progressive think tank Center for American Progress and former Democratic commissioner with the Election Assistance Commission who was fired by Trump in July.

He added, “It would be a break-glass moment for our democracy.”

The rule would require meticulous changes to ballot handling and tracking practices that Hovland said are impossible to implement before Election Day in about two months, effectively disenfranchising millions of voters.

“Ballots are printed. Envelopes are printed. You can go on and on with all the practical reasons that show that implementing something like this at this time is not feasible,” he said.

Richer said he doubted the new rules would bring about more security. Even if the USPS received lists from the states, according to the postal service’s final rule, it would not do any additional vetting of the list, Richer said.

“It’s just that the mail ballots have to be on that list, and I don’t see what added value for election integrity that does,” he said.

He added, “It creates a lot of administrative burden, and I think it creates a lot more opportunity for error.”

While a decision looms in the courts, election officials and experts cast doubt on the likelihood of the rules going into effect before November. A more pressing issue, they said, is the confusion and uncertainty surrounding mail-in ballots, which could subvert and change the behaviors of voters.

“It makes things seem messy or difficult, and it can dissuade people from participating or coming out to vote,” Hovland said. “It certainly also helps establish a pretext to make bad faith claims about election results.”

Hovland said that while none of these claims of voter fraud are backed up with facts, they could cause Americans to lose faith in the voting process.

Still, some current officials contended they were well-prepared for whatever happens — and that they’d be able to communicate effectively with voters who have become increasingly buffeted by dramatic rhetoric about the once-unmentioned nuts and bolts of actually running an election.

“There’s always a lot of noise around elections, that’s not going to change, and it can be hard to differentiate that from what’s actually going on on the ground,” said Jason Tyson, director of external affairs for the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

As Election Day approaches, Tyson and election officials said they urge voters to check their registration status and make a plan to vote.

He added, “I think we’ve got a really well-trained, solid staff who are ready, and who have gone through all of the checks and balances and points of contact that we need to do to get to where we are.”

Politics

Missouri Supreme Court pauses GOP gerrymander, likely netting Democrats 1 House seat

Published

2 days ago

September 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Missouri’s Supreme Court suspended a congressional map that state Republicans drew last year that would have netted the GOP an additional House seat, likely keeping the seat in Democratic hands this November.

The court ruled unanimously on Thursday that a referendum petition organized by Democrats to put the new congressional maps to a vote was incorrectly deemed insufficient by Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, and ordered that the gerrymandered map be put to a vote in the fall.

Voters will ultimately decide the fate of the new lines in November. But in the meantime, it cannot be in place for the midterms, meaning Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s original Kansas City-based district will likely stay in Democrats’ hands this fall.

Politics

Groundbreaking for Trump’s arch will begin soon, Burgum says

Published

2 days ago

September 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Construction crews could begin the excavation process for what will be President Donald Trump’s massive 250-foot-tall arch in as soon as the next two weeks, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced on Thursday.

The monument — which will be erected in a traffic circle at the head of the Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River, coming between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Cemetery — has generated controversy as concerns emerged about the design and traffic congestion during construction.

The arch would take two to three years to construct on the proposed schedule, according to documents released in June.

“We are pleased to announce that after a very long wait (over 125 years!), we are preparing to start, over the next two-week period, the excavation work necessary for the Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck,” Burgum said in a social media post.

The 250-foot-tall arch will be among Trump’s most visible projects, as the administration continues its attempts to remake Washington. Critics, however, have voiced fears that the structure may be too large, and overshadow other monuments, like the Lincoln Memorial on the other side of the Potomac River.

The proposed arch will dwarf the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in size. It is unclear at this time how much construction will cost; the National Endowment for the Humanities earmarked $15 million for the monument.

“This will be one the the Great Pieces of American Architecture, honoring the history and significance of Arlington National Cemetery and befitting the most powerful Capital in the World,” Burgum said.

The monument will be constructed on land overseen by the National Park Service, and critics have argued Trump’s latest project requires explicit congressional approval. However, the Interior secretary continues to rebut these claims.

Instead, Burgum echoed previous statements and said historically “Congress and various congressionally chartered commissions decreed that a monumental work should adorn Columbia Island,” the traffic circle where the monument is planned to be constructed.

“Despite Congress’s intent, the site became and remains today a barren traffic circle lacking any monumental treatment and significant historic value,” he said.