Graham Platner’s Maine primary victory is a win for flawed people — which is everyone

Today the voters of Maine made Graham Platner the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat currently occupied by Republican Susan Collins.

With 71% of the vote in, the New York Times shows Platner ahead of Janet Mills, the governor of Maine, 72% to 20%.

Sure doesn’t look like Maine Democrats have lost faith in Platner, even after reports surfaced that he had behaved badly with several girlfriends, and had exchanged sexual text messages with some other women at the beginning of his marriage. Nineteen polls were taken between July 2025 and June 2026 of the Democratic primary between Platner and Mills. Only one showed a lead for Platner greater than the 52% (72% minus 20%) he currently enjoys.

Yet I keep hearing talking heads on cable news speak of what a flawed candidate Platner is. To which I reply, show me a non-flawed candidate. Or more broadly, a non-flawed person. Such doesn’t exist. We are all flawed. We’re all just flawed in different ways. Some people, like Platner, readily admit to their shortcomings. Other people, like Trump, deny they have any shortcomings.

I much prefer flawed honesty to sanctimonious bullshit. I asked Google AI, “What are the main criticisms of Graham Platner?” The response:

Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Maine, has faced intense scrutiny and criticism from both political parties regarding his past behavior, character, and previous online activity.

The main criticisms against him include:

• Allegations of Misconduct and Abuse: A New York Times report and accounts from former partners detailed volatile relationships, with one ex-girlfriend alleging he was physically threatening, and another claiming he once twisted her arm behind her back and held her in a room against her will. Platner has denied claims of physical abuse.
• Sexting and Infidelity: News reports revealed that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women early in his marriage. His campaign confirmed the texts but stated that he and his wife, Amy Gertner, sought counseling and worked through the marital issues.
• Nazi-Themed Tattoo: Platner faced significant backlash for a skull-and-crossbones chest tattoo closely resembling the Nazi Totenkopf (an SS symbol). He stated he got the tattoo while drunk in 2007 without knowing its history and had it covered up. However, critics and some ex-girlfriends alleged he was fully aware of the symbol’s extremist connotations.
• Offensive Online Comments: Resurfaced Reddit comments written by Platner between 2009 and 2021 drew widespread condemnation from the right and the left. These posts included the use of homophobic slurs, derogatory comments about women and rural Americans, and seemingly dismissive remarks regarding military sexual assault.

Okay, Platner is no choir boy. This is his biography, according to Google AI.

Graham Platner (born September 1, 1984) is a former U.S. Marine, oyster farmer, and the presumptive Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Maine. He is a political outsider running a progressive, anti-establishment platform centered on universal health care, housing affordability, and ending U.S. involvement in foreign wars.

Early Life & Education

• Background: Born in Blue Hill and raised in Ellsworth and Sullivan, Maine. His parents, Leslie Harlow and Bronson Platner, are active in Democratic politics. His grandfather, Warren Platner, was a well-known modernist architect.
• Education: Attended a private boarding school in Connecticut (Hotchkiss Prep) but was expelled. He graduated from John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, where his senior class superlative was “Most Likely to Start a Revolution”. 

Military Service & Career

• Combat Deployments: Defying the objections of his liberal parents, Platner enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2003 immediately after high school. He served eight years, completing three combat tours in Iraq.
• National Guard & Contractor: He subsequently attended George Washington University on the G.I. Bill and enlisted in the Maryland Army National Guard, completing a tour of duty in Afghanistan. After withdrawing from college, he worked as a State Department security contractor in Afghanistan before returning to Maine.
• Oyster Farming & Local Politics: He took over Waukeag Neck Oyster Co. in Sullivan, Maine. Prior to his Senate run, he served as his town’s harbor master and planning board chair.

He’s exactly the sort of candidate Democrats need. Charismatic, intelligent, real, political outsider, and yes, flawed. Whenever I’ve heard Platner interviewed, he comes across as genuine and honest. Those obsessed with liberal purity tests worry that he won’t be able to beat Susan Collins, given his imperfect personal history.

That’s why I’m confident that Platner will defeat Collins this November. Maine voters, like national voters, are tired of slick politically correct candidates who try to come across as someone they are not. With Platner, what you see is what you get. When asked about his past, he’s fond of saying:

I firmly believe that if you believe in transformational politics, you’ve got to believe in the ability for people to transform. And my journey is one of transformation.

I firmly believe, in line with both modern neuroscience and ancient Buddhism, that there is no such thing as a True Self. Not for Platner, not for Trump, not for you, not for me, not for anybody. Who we are is ever-changing, a work in progress, a never-completed bit of personal art. Who we were years ago, or even mere minutes ago, is not who we are now.

Nothing Platner has said or done strikes me as the least bit disqualifying to be a United States senator. I look forward to him defeating Susan Collins in the midterm election, then being an excellent Maine senator for the next six years.