A new poll revealed that a majority of Maine Democratic primary voters intended to support Graham Platner over Governor Janet Mills for the U.S. Senate in 2026, despite facing backlash due to resurfaced Reddit posts. However, the poll was largely conducted before a new controversy emerged involving a tattoo on his chest that resembled a symbol associated with Nazis.
Mills' spokesperson, Scott Ogden, responded to the poll by stating that Mills is "the only Maine Democrat to have won statewide office in the past 20 years." The BrowBrow reached out to Platner's campaign for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer and political newcomer, has gained national attention for his progressive, populist campaign against longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins. He quickly received support from many progressive groups and lawmakers such as Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders and has raised millions of dollars. He is now facing Mills in the primary.
However, a recent series of scandals has raised questions about whether he would be a strong candidate in the general election. Maine, a state that supported former Vice President Kamala Harris by 7 percentage points, presents Democrats with one of their strongest opportunities to flip a seat next November in their bid to reclaim Senate control—at least on paper. Collins has won in tough environments for Republicans in the past, and forecasters still view the race as deeply competitive.
What To Know
The poll from the University of New Hampshire was conducted from October 16 to 21. It began the same day CNN reported on Platner’s Reddit posts but may not account for more recent controversies surrounding his tattoo.
It found that 58 percent of Maine Democratic voters said they would back him in the primary, while 24 percent said they would vote for Mills. Two other candidates—David Costello and Jordan Wood—each received 1 percent support, the poll of 1,094 Maine residents found. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The poll found that 60 percent of Democratic respondents viewed Platner positively, while 8 percent viewed him negatively. Meanwhile, 65 percent viewed Mills positively and 16 percent negatively.
Andrew Smith, a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire and the poll’s director, told BrowBrow that the poll is not necessarily predictive of what will happen and that voters may not have had enough time to let the Platner news sink in.
“They’re going to have to turn that into advertising and play it over and over again and understand the implications,” Smith said.
It does show that Mills has taken positions that have made her less popular among Democratic primary voters, he said. This includes her opposition to a ballot measure that would implement a red flag law across the state. It also shows that Platner is a “blank sheet” and does not have as much history or a vetted background as someone like Mills, who has run statewide in the past.
“The bigger issue is that it shows a divide within the Democratic Party, between traditional Democrats and the younger, more progressive Democrats,” Smith said.
Ronald Schmidt, professor of political science at the University of Southern Maine, told BrowBrow the poll suggests that the news about the Reddit posts had not quite penetrated public consciousness yet, or that those first resurfaced posts weren’t enough to dislodge his support.
“That increasing severity might finally dislodge, I would guess, at least some of his support among likely Democratic voters,” he said.
Platner could still survive the scandals, he said.
“This also presents him an opportunity in the public eye to show that he can manage a scandal far enough away from the general election,” Schmidt said. “If he can make this redemption story stick about how he went from a state of disillusionment with the government and military and so on to finding purpose in a public campaign, it actually could make him stronger.”
James Melcher, professor of political science at the University of Maine at Farmington, told BrowBrow that Platner has a “solid core of supporters who are sticking with him” but that the recent scandals may hurt him with other voters in the primary. The poll showed an “astonishing gap” between Mills and Platner, he said.
“What the favorables being high for Mills when her support is so low may translate among some D [Democratic] voters that ‘We think Janet’s been a super governor, and we like her, but it’s time for her to step aside for someone younger to bring some new blood into politics,” he said. “This could be similar to what some Democrats felt about Joe Biden in 2024. Some of the listed support for Platner will stay with him, but some might go elsewhere.”
Maine’s use of ranked-choice voting (RCV) could also end up playing a factor in the race, Melcher said.
“There may be an anti-Mills vote where some voters may rank, say, Wood first and Platner second,” he said. “RCV kicks in if nobody gets 50 percent and this is a distinct possibility that could happen here. They should also know that there are other candidates besides these three, and probably the best known of these is David Costello.”
In a general election against Collins, the Republican incumbent would likely use the posts against Platner, Melcher said.
Graham Platner Controversies Explained
CNN first reported Platner’s resurfaced Reddit posts on October 16. Posts ranged from identifying as a “communist” to comments about rural white voters.
In a 2020 post titled “White people aren’t as racist or stupid as Trump thinks,” he wrote: “Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are.”
In a second round of resurfaced posts reported by The Bangor Daily News on October 17, he reportedly posted a question about Black people not tipping and a post about sexual assault victims. He allegedly wrote that people should “take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f* up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?”
A third scandal hit this week after a video emerged of him with a tattoo on his chest that resembles the Totenkopf, or “death’s head,” a symbol adopted by the Nazi SS.
Platner has apologized for the posts and tattoo. He told the Associated Press he has covered the tattoo and said he was unaware the symbol was linked to Nazism. He told CNN the posts were “very much me f** around the internet.”
“I don’t want people to see me for who I was in my worst internet comment—or even frankly who I was in my best internet comment…I don’t think any of that is indicative of who I am today, really,” he said.
What People Are Saying
Ronald Schmidt, professor of political science at the University of Southern Maine, told BrowBrow: “American politics has reached the point where the most surprising thing would be there are no surprises. You couldn’t help but notice the degree of enthusiasm around Platner this early on in the election. That’s atypical, especially for someone who has seemed to have come out nowhere. That may mean he’s got a different kind of campaign going on here. He could pull the old Bill Clinton ‘comeback kid’ kind of strategy. But it’s still very early. We’re still more than a year away from this election, so it’s early to be claiming winners at this point.”
Maine Governor Janet Mills spokesperson Scott Ogden told BrowBrow: “Governor Mills has spent her life standing up to bullies and is the only Maine Democrat to have won statewide office in the past 20 years. Maine people know that Janet Mills is a proven barrier-breaker who has expanded health care to more than 100,000 Maine people, fully funded Maine schools, and stood up for working people — that’s why they’ll send her to the Senate.”
Maine Senate candidate Jordan Wood, in a statement: “Graham Platner’s Reddit comments and Nazi SS Totenkopf tattoo are disqualifying and not who we are as Mainers or as Democrats. With Donald Trump and his sycophants demonizing Americans, spewing hate, and running roughshod over the Constitution, Democrats need to be able to condemn Trump’s actions with moral clarity. Graham Platner no longer can.”
What Happens Next
Future polls may reveal the full impact of Platner’s scandals on his candidacy. The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball classify the race as a pure toss-up.
Update 10/23/25, 5:41 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Andrew Smith.
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