{"id":1323,"date":"2026-09-02T16:30:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T16:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/?p=1323"},"modified":"2026-09-02T16:30:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T16:30:35","slug":"susan-collins-gop-primary-has-been-called","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/?p=1323","title":{"rendered":"Susan Collins GOP Primary Has Been Called"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Longtime Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, seeking a sixth term, once again finds herself targeted by national Democrats aiming to flip the U.S. Senate seat.<\/p>\n<p>Collins, the only GOP senator representing a state won by Kamala Harris in 2024, has been Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer\u2019s top target for years.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic groups have already flooded the airwaves with attacks, while the DSCC and allies pour resources into boosting controversial Democratic frontrunner Graham Platner ahead of the primary on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\"><\/div>\n<p>Collins won the Maine Republican primary on Tuesday night. She ran unopposed.<\/p>\n<p>She will face off against Graham Platner, who won the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, Collins warned that voters will find Platner to be \u201ctoo radical.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-2\"><\/div>\n<p>Platner hopes to unseat the longtime Republican senator with the help of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California.<\/p>\n<p>The oyster farmer has been forced to defend himself recently due to growing controversy and unfavorable headlines.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-7\"><\/div>\n<p>The race is one of a few that could decide whether the GOP maintains its narrow Senate majority in the midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p>Among his many progressive policy stances, Platner, on his campaign website, urges \u201cpassing a constitutional amendment to ban billionaires buying elections!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And he highlights that he\u2019s \u201ca strong supporter of a Medicare for All system\u201d and that he \u201cwill support a path to citizenship and an end to the mass deportation machine.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=e30%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2064498171753975834&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fconservativebrief.com%2Fsusan-collins-primary-101932%2F&amp;sessionId=68520906a6f20e62aabda6efb37a8d9df6d9eea3&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"2064498171753975834\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Asked if Platner is too far to the left for voters in her northern New England state, Collins responded in a Fox News interview, \u201cI believe that will be the conclusion of Maine voters. But, obviously, I don\u2019t take anything for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats see Maine as a crucial pickup opportunity in the 2026 midterms as they aim to win back the Senate majority in the fall.<\/p>\n<p>Numerous controversies have also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/conservativebrief.com\/graham-platner-101925\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">embroiled Platner<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer and Marine veteran, is facing a firestorm of allegations.<\/p>\n<p>Platner has been dogged by revelations involving explicit texts to other women during his marriage, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, inflammatory old Reddit posts, and accusations from ex-girlfriends of demeaning and physically threatening conduct.<\/p>\n<p>According to a Wall Street Journal report, Platner\u2019s wife, Amy Gertner, whom he married in 2023, discovered sexually explicit text messages between her husband and several other women early in their marriage.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-10\"><\/div>\n<p>She flagged the messages to his Senate campaign last year to get ahead of any potential scandal.<\/p>\n<p>Platner has acknowledged sending the messages but faces ongoing scrutiny over the timing and extent of the communications, which reportedly involved as many as a dozen women.<\/p>\n<p>A New York Times investigation detailed accounts from multiple ex-partners who described Platner\u2019s behavior as \u201cunsettling,\u201d \u201creckless,\u201d and \u201ctoxic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One former girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield, alleged that during an argument years ago, Platner twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom, and held the door shut while telling her to \u201ccalm down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other women recalled him being demeaning toward women, heavy drinking, and emotionally volatile relationships.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-12\"><\/div>\n<p>Platner has denied any physical violence, calling himself a \u201cbad boyfriend\u201d in the past while attributing issues to PTSD from his service in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>Further controversy surrounds a tattoo Platner got in 2007 during a night of drinking in Croatia.<\/p>\n<p>It featured imagery resembling the Nazi Totenkopf skull, which he later covered up.<\/p>\n<p>While Platner claims he was unaware of its Nazi associations until recently, some ex-girlfriends and former campaign aides insist he knew.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-13\"><\/div>\n<p>Old Reddit posts under the username \u201cP-Hustle,\u201d many now deleted, have also resurfaced.<\/p>\n<p>In them, Platner allegedly downplayed sexual assault, suggesting victims \u201ctake some responsibility\u201d by avoiding alcohol and \u201cact like an adult.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He reportedly called Maine voters he hopes to represent \u201cracist\u201d and \u201cstupid,\u201d used slurs, criticized police, and made other crude remarks.<\/p>\n<p>Platner has blamed the posts on his post-service struggles with depression and self-medication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Longtime Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, seeking a sixth term, once again finds herself targeted by national Democrats aiming to flip the U.S. Senate seat. Collins, the only GOP senator&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1325,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323\/revisions\/1325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}