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Democrats lost control of the White House and Congress last November, but a new crop of working-class populists hope to lead the party out of the political wilderness. That is especially true in Maine. Oyster farmer and military veteran Graham Platner has entered a crowded field of candidates vying for the seat of Republican Senator Susan Collins. Steve Mistler from member station Maine Public has this report.
STEVE MISTLER, BYLINE: Platner, or oysterman, as some have called him, is midway through his town hall in Senator Collins' hometown of deep-red Caribou when he apologizes for stepping on the crowd's applause.
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GRAHAM PLATNER: If I am any kind of Democrat, I'm a New Deal Democrat.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah.
PLATNER: My personal...
(SOUNDBITE OF SCATTERED APPLAUSE)
PLATNER: Sorry, I'm still getting used to this.
(LAUGHTER)
PLATNER: I'm trying to figure out where applause lines are, but I'll be honest.
(LAUGHTER)
PLATNER: It's not always easy. Depends what part of the state you're in.
MISTLER: Until Caribou, Platner's town halls mostly took place in liberal strongholds along Maine's coast. He's drawn huge crowds since his viral launch video in August catapulted him from harbormaster to political sensation.
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PLATNER: We have watched this state become essentially unlivable for working-class people, and it makes me deeply angry.
MISTLER: The ad was produced by the same firm working for Democrat Zohran Mamdani, a New York City mayoral candidate. Platner quickly won the endorsement of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, whose supporters have recruited similar candidates in Kentucky, Nebraska and Pennsylvania. Since then, Platner has used fiery rhetoric to attack his prospective opponent in a political establishment in both parties that he says has enriched itself and crushed working-class Mainers.
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PLATNER: You ask any working person in the state, do you think that you live in a system, a political system, an economic system that has your best interests at heart? Nobody says yes to that. Everyone says no because everybody knows in their bones they are being robbed and screwed.
MISTLER: Heads nodded for those lines in far-flung Caribou, a 4 1/2-hour drive from the economic hub of Portland. Here, those feelings are magnified by a sense of isolation, even neglect. It's why Lisa and Kevin Grondin showed up to hear Platner speak. Neither are fans of Collins', who hasn't entered the race yet. But they're not thrilled with Democrats either.
LISA GRONDIN: I just want to see what he's got to offer 'cause right now, we got crap.
MISTLER: Kevin, deeply skeptical before Platner spoke, says health care is a top concern for him.
KEVIN GRONDIN: Anything basically north of Bangor, we're an afterthought. We can't get services. We can't get specialties. If we do get veterans benefits, we got to drive to Portland to go see a doctor.
MISTLER: Kevin is a disabled veteran, and so is Platner.
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PLATNER: I was lucky enough to do four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and get blown up enough that the VA says that I deserve health care.
MISTLER: Platner's health coverage through the VA is core to his pitch for universal health care. Without it, he says he never could have started his oyster business or bought a house.
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PLATNER: That gave me an immense amount of freedom. That gave me an immense amount of material freedom to build a life that I wanted to build. I don't think that you should have to go fight in stupid foreign wars - sorry (crying) - to get that kind of support.
MISTLER: It's a message he hopes will resonate with Democrats, independents and even Trump voters who wanted change but aren't getting it.
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PLATNER: And we need to be there, ready to have a message that tells them, this is how we make your life better, this is how we represent working people. And you and your neighbors have far more in common than you don't.
MISTLER: He'll need that type of support to defeat Collins, who has beat back every challenger since she was first elected in 1996. And he'll need support to win a crowded Democratic primary that may soon include Governor Janet Mills. She's a top recruit for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee or DSCC, but she hasn't entered the race yet. Platner is campaigning as if she's already running.
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PLATNER: Running candidates that are picked by D.C. running campaigns that are driven by D.C., I think that's a losing strategy.
MISTLER: In 2020, the DSCC endorsed their favorite candidate early. Democratically aligned groups then spent heavily to defeat Collins. She still won by more than eight points.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Mistler in Caribou, Maine. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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