Susan Collins’ fight to hold onto her seat just got messier.
Republicans had welcomed Graham Platner as a foil to Collins, who is trying to win a sixth Senate term in a state that voted for Kamala Harris in 2024.
But now, while Maine Democrats prepare for an intense two week sprint to replace Platner, Collins’ team will have to start from scratch in their strategy against a new nominee — who may not be known until close to the party’s July 27 deadline to declare one.
And according to a person familiar with the campaign’s thinking, Collins’ team had viewed Platner as a uniquely vulnerable opponent whose personal controversies could help offset a big challenge in 2026: running as a Republican in the era of President Donald Trump.
Polling published in late June showed Collins and Platner in an extremely close race.
“She can certainly win, but they didn’t want to change candidates,” the person familiar with the campaign’s thinking said. “The stuff we already knew about Platner was going to propel Collins to overcome the Trump anchor. Now it’s going to be a Democrat with a cleaner record, presumably.”
Collins didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Republicans are signaling at least one playbook for moving forward: trying to tar any replacement Democrat with Platner by association. POLITICO reported Monday about an accusation of sexual assault against Platner, which he denies.
“Democrats rolled in the mud with Platner, and now they are completely stained by their association with this sick monster,” Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters said in a statement.
Now all eyes are on Maine’s Democratic Party, which Wednesday approved tentative plans for a nominating convention.
Platner, for his part, did not immediately endorse another candidate, saying in his withdrawal video Wednesday night the process must be “open” and controlled by the “people of Maine.”
Washington Democrats, meanwhile, are turning their focus to Collins while wanting to avoid the appearance of interfering with the selection of a new nominee.
“Democrats are going to defeat Susan Collins, win Maine, and take back the Senate,” posted Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has encouraged a Maine-centric process to replace Platner, according to a person familiar, granted anonymity to discuss the situation.
Top Democratic funding groups have also announced they’re jumping back into the race.
“Susan Collins is more vulnerable than she has ever been after voting with Trump 96 percent of the time, being the decisive vote for the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, and selling out to the special interests that fund her campaigns after three decades in the Senate,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Executive Director Devan Barber said in a statement.
Read also: What we know – and don’t – about how Maine Democrats will replace Graham Platner
What else we’re watching:
— NO END IN SIGHT FOR HILL'S EPSTEIN PROBE: Nearly one year into House Oversight’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation and neither party sees a reason to stop. Oversight Chair James Comer, who had originally hoped to wrap up interviews by August recess, said “it’s probably going to be hard because it seems like … after every deposition we get another name or two that we need to talk to.” That means the congressional Epstein probe could continue for the foreseeable future regardless of who wins the midterms, not only out of hopes of finding a smoking gun but also because the political incentives to keep investigating — for both parties — are impossible to resist.
— DEMS LOOK TO VOTES, DOLLARS IN IRAN WAR PROTEST: Democratic leadership is eyeing ways to check Trump’s ability to wage war in Iran after a successful vote on the issue last month didn’t slow him down. Democrats could force votes on new war powers measures when the chamber returns next week in an attempt to replicate last month’s politically symbolic win. But the party’s best leverage for stopping the war may be money.
Jordain Carney, Sophia Cai, Hailey Fuchs, Connor O’Brien and Leo Shane III contributed to this report.
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