Sen. Susan Collins formally secured the Republican nomination for her Maine Senate seat Tuesday, running unopposed in the GOP primary as she prepares for a general election fight that could determine whether Republicans hold their slim Senate majority.
The 73-year-old senator is seeking a sixth six-year term, and she already knows who's waiting on the other side. Graham Platner, a military veteran and oyster farmer, is the all-but-certain Democratic nominee. He arrives carrying endorsements from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California. He also arrives carrying baggage.
Collins told Fox News Digital she plans to draw a sharp contrast between her record and Platner's approach, and she made clear she considers her opponent too far left for Maine voters.
"I believe that will be the conclusion of Maine voters. But, obviously, I don't take anything for granted."
She shouldn't. The Maine race is one of a handful across the country that will decide whether Republicans keep control of the chamber. And polls show a competitive contest, even as Collins brings decades of seniority and a bipartisan reputation to the fight.
Platner has spent much of his early campaign playing defense. Last fall, soon after launching his Senate bid, he apologized for controversial Reddit posts that made national headlines. Then came questions about a skull and crossbones tattoo. Platner said he got it in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said he covered it up with a new design last year after learning it resembled a Nazi symbol.
Last week, new allegations from ex-girlfriends surfaced, involving, as Fox News reported, a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking, and violent episodes. An outside political group aligned with Collins has been running ads spotlighting these controversies.
Platner has acknowledged a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder from four tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. In a statement, he said he had been open about a difficult chapter:
"I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated."
He added that he is "not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I've done since, and the movement we are building in Maine."
Those are the words of a candidate trying to turn the page. Whether Maine voters let him is another matter entirely.
Collins framed the race in familiar terms, as a fight against national Democratic leadership that has tried to unseat her cycle after cycle.
"I have been the No. 1 target of Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, not only in this campaign, but the last two campaigns as well. I'm always his No. 1 target."
She has reason to invoke that history. Six years ago, Democrats poured resources into Maine behind Sara Gideon, then the state House speaker. Collins trailed in early polling. She won re-election by nearly nine points.
This cycle, Schumer and the Democratic establishment initially backed two-term Gov. Janet Mills. But Mills dropped out earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in both fundraising and polling. That left the progressive insurgent as the party's standard-bearer, flanked by Sanders and Warren rather than the establishment figures Schumer preferred.
On May 24, Sanders and Platner stood together at a "Fighting Oligarchy" tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono. The optics told the story: Maine's Democratic nominee campaigning alongside the Senate's most prominent self-described democratic socialist.
Collins is leaning into her record on pocketbook issues that matter in a state where heating bills and grocery costs hit hard. She toured a food bank in Harrison, Maine, on May 5 and emphasized her work on the low-income heating assistance program.
"[It] helps low-income families and seniors stay warm during the cold winter months. I just recently made sure the final tranche of money was released because there is a lot of need in the state of Maine, and the cost of living is high here."
She also stressed her opposition to cuts in food stamp benefits and other programs for low-income families, saying she knows "how important they are." For a Republican senator, it is a deliberate pitch to the center, and to the working-class voters who decide close races in New England.
On Friday, Collins cast her 10,000th consecutive Senate vote, a milestone that drew bipartisan praise. It is the kind of durability statistic that campaigns love: a concrete number that says "shows up, does the work."
Platner, for his part, has tried to make the race a referendum on Collins's tenure. He has called her record a "charade" and described the broader political class as "a generation of politicians who have failed us." At an energy event in Ellsworth, Maine, on Monday, he pushed the message that Collins has prioritized corporate interests over ordinary people.
"She and Republican politicians like her have prioritized the interests of billionaires and corporations over people."
He has also highlighted Collins's support for parts of President Trump's agenda, hoping to use Trump's underwater approval ratings in the state as a drag on her candidacy. Polls suggest the race is competitive, though specific survey numbers were not detailed.
But populist rhetoric is easier to sell when the candidate delivering it isn't simultaneously fending off questions about Reddit posts, tattoo controversies, and allegations from former partners. Platner's personal baggage gives Collins an opening that no amount of Sanders rallies can close.
The Maine seat matters beyond the state's borders. Republicans hold a slim Senate majority, and this race is one of a handful that could flip control of the chamber. Democrats need to pick off seats like Collins's to hand the gavel back to Schumer, which is exactly why he has made her his top target for three consecutive cycles.
Collins responded to the incoming attacks with characteristic directness:
"Fortunately, the people of Maine are smart, and they know lies and distortions when they see it."
With six months until the midterms, the battle lines are drawn. On one side, a veteran senator with 10,000 consecutive votes, bipartisan credibility, and a record of winning races Democrats thought they had locked up. On the other, a progressive newcomer backed by the party's left flank, running on populist energy, and hoping voters look past a growing file of personal controversies.
Maine voters have seen this play before. Last time, they chose the senator who showed up over the challenger Schumer shipped in. Democrats are betting a different kind of candidate changes the outcome. Collins is betting Maine hasn't changed as much as Washington thinks it has.
If history is any guide, that's the smarter bet.
