Brewer of Lunch IPA hopes to take Platner’s place in Maine
The Hill · C · trust 48/100
Comments: by Amie Parnes - 07/16/26 6:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Amie Parnes - 07/16/26 6:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied FREEPORT, ME – FEBRUARY 12: Dan Kleban, co-owner of Maine Beer Company, poses for a portrait in the brewery on Tuesday, February 12, 2019.. (Staff photo by Brianna Soukup/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images) Dan Kleban is something of a celebrity in Maine.
For the past 20 years, he’s built the Maine Beer Company alongside his older brother, Dave. His IPA Lunch beer, not to be confused with its equally well-known sibling Dinner, has become a Vacationland staple.
Kleban started the beer business after he was laid off from his first job as a lawyer, and his wife, a nurse, borrowed money from her 401(k) so he could launch the brewery in a garage.
Today, the company employs more than 100 people, and you can find his beer well outside Maine.
Kleban is hoping that reputation will help propel him to be the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine after Graham Platner’s campaign collapsed after Platner was accused of rape by a former girlfriend.
Kleban argues that he’s the kind of political newcomer Maine needs: someone who has never before held office.
Like Platner, Kleban argues that Mainers are desperate for someone outside the political establishment. They are tired of buttoned-up Washington, he said.
“I think that’s part of the reason people were attracted to Graham. I totally understand that,” Kleban said in an interview with The Hill this week. “That’s what I represent in this race now.”
Kleban — who ran briefly for the seat last year but withdrew after Gov. Janet Mills (D) entered the contest — did not support Platner.
“I always had, dating back to last fall, serious character concerns about him,” he said.
“I’m glad there was at least a red line and we steadfastly abided by that line,” Kleban added of the Democratic Party. “I’m relieved that we’re finally able to turn the page.”
Kleban now is trying to make the case that he’s the best Democrat to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine). Democrats need to win the race if they are to have much hope of taking back the Senate majority.
He and others are now in a two-week sprint, as the decision on whom to nominate will be made at a July 25 nominating convention when roughly 600 party delegates — not voters — will choose Platner’s replacement.
Kleban and the other candidates will try to secure delegate commitments and win endorsements from labor leaders, county chairs and other activists while fundraising and organizing.
“What are we not doing?” Kleban quipped. “We’re flying the plane, putting the plane together, and repairing the plane all at once.”
Kleban’s reputation has carried farther than Maine’s craft beer community.
As a self-proclaimed “beer guy,” Democratic strategist Steve Schale — who is based in Florida — knew of Kleban from the work he has done in Maine. And when others were touting Platner as an outsider, he kept pointing to Kleban, who is an outsider without the baggage.
“What is interesting about breweries is they really do a great job of building community, and most of the folks in that orbit get into it because they love that their product can bring local people together,” Schale said.
“I do think that the Senate and Congress needs more voices who have spent their life doing things, not running for things,” Schale said, adding that he has “a lot of respect for what he’s built, and knowing what drives guys like him,” not to mention, he added, “the need for new leaders in general.”
Nichola Samponaro, a political activist in Maine, pointed not only to Kleban’s brewery, but also his tendency to support progressive causes and give back to the community.
“He has a track record of putting his money where his mouth is,” Samponaro said. “And he’s very generous with his time and is a really positive person.”
The two-week campaign provides “an opportunity for someone like Dan,” she said. “He has a really compelling story.”
For Kleban, that story traces back to the brewery.
At first, it was something he and his brother would do on the weekends.
“We would brew beer and drink beer and talk about what brothers talk about,” he said.
They had no idea that the business — 20 years later — would not only play such a big role in the state’s craft beer scene, but also that it would be so successful that he could pay his employees a livable wage, cover their health insurance and donate 1 percent of his revenue to other causes.
“We were betting on ourselves,” Kleban said of his wife’s decision to dip into her retirement funds after he lost his job.
That leap of faith is the experience he says Washington lacks.
“I know what it’s like to struggle,” he said. “Life’s opportunities come during the most distressing times.”
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