Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Saturday endorsed political newcomer Graham Platner’s Maine Senate bid, amid Democratic leadership’s push to recruit Gov. Janet Mills to run against GOP Sen. Susan Collins.
“Graham is a Marine and Army National Guard veteran, an oyster farmer, and a proud member of America’s working class. He’s a Mainer through and through, and he is building a movement strong enough to take on the oligarchy that is making Maine unaffordable for all except a privileged few,” Sanders wrote in his announcement, adding that “we need senators in Washington who are prepared to take on the billionaire class and fight for working people.”
Sanders is also set to host a rally on Monday with Platner and former state Senate President Troy Jackson, whom Sanders endorsed for governor earlier this year.
Platner, a 40-year-old oysterman and veteran with no prior political experience, launched his bid to challenge Collins earlier this month, throwing a potential wrench in Democrats’ plan to recruit and rally behind Mills in the race.
Though he has rebuffed being branded a “liberal” — noting his experience as a firearms instructor — Platner has embraced several progressive policies that Sanders has touted, including universal health care, fighting oligarchy and calling for an end to what he described as “a genocide happening in Palestine.”
Platner has also stated support for a generational shift toward younger leaders within the Democratic Party, telling POLITICO earlier this month that he would not support Chuck Schumer as Senate majority leader if Democrats regained control of the upper chamber in the 2026 midterms.
The emergence of Platner and other younger faces within the party has added tension to an already sensitive split among Democrats over how to approach their longshot attempt to flip the Senate next year. While many support injecting the party with newer energy, Democratic leadership has turned to longer-serving older candidates with winning track records, including former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
Democratic leaders have also been hoping to recruit Mills to run against Collins, though attempts to lure the governor into the race have proven unsuccessful thus far.
Mills told the Portland Press Herald earlier this week that she is “seriously considering” running but that she is “not in any rush to make a decision,” adding she could make up her mind in November.
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