Maine Democrats grapple with who is best to take over Graham Platner’s movement
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Maine Secretary of State and candidate for Governor Shenna Bellows speaks during a May Day rally organized by local unions, on May 1, 2026 outside City Hall in Portland, Maine. | Graeme Sloan/Getty Images
Maine Democrats want to hold onto Graham Platner ’s progressive base — but they can’t agree on who is best positioned to carry the torch.
That indecision is creating a fractured field heading into an unpredictable late July nominating convention for one of the most important Senate races on the 2026 map. Now, various candidates are rushing to prove they are the most aligned with Platner ’s policies, without tying themselves too closely to the disgraced oysterman.
Labor organizations and the national progressive organizing group Our Revolution are backing former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson , who campaigned with Platner during the primary and got the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign earlier this year. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a former Platner surrogate, is also behind Jackson , as are dozens of current and former state lawmakers.
But some state legislators and local activists who had backed Platner are flocking to Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows , who similarly ran as a progressive in the gubernatorial primary. And former public health official Nirav Shah is touting more progressive policy positions than he did when he ran for governor in an attempt to break off some Platner supporters. Behind the scenes, he is also working to recruit former organizers from Platner ’s campaign, according to two people familiar with the strategy and granted anonymity to discuss it.
The trio of former gubernatorial candidates are the leading figures in a crowded field aiming to win over a yet-to-be-selected group of 600 Democratic delegates. Part of that task is convincing Platner’s former supporters that they will carry on the progressive advocacy and fighting spirit that made his candidacy so popular — before he was forced to resign after POLITICO reported a woman said he had sexually assaulted her. Platner has denied the allegation.
Many of the candidates will make that pitch directly during a debate scheduled for Thursday night . And the stakes couldn’t be higher for national Democrats watching anxiously: Unseating Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is an essential part of the party’s plan to take back control of the Senate this fall.
Platner convincingly won the Democratic Senate primary last month with nearly three quarters of the vote, and had a zealous base of support during the primary. But where his voters and core volunteers go next is unclear.
“People who were vocal supporters of Platner ’s have moved to other candidates, and it doesn’t look to me like they moved in a block, that everyone agrees who’s the best next candidate from that movement,” said David Farmer , a Maine Democratic political strategist not involved with the Senate campaign. “And I think that in a truncated process like this, that’s to be expected.”
In just 11 days, Democrats will replace their nominee at a convention in Bangor. This weekend, they will select the delegates who will pick that candidate — a process playing out across all of the state’s 16 counties, with campaigns seeking to recruit and organize delegates who will vote in their favor.
Unions, who were a key Platner booster in his primary against Gov. Janet Mills , have largely gone to Jackson, a logger and longtime union member. The Maine AFL-CIO endorsed Jackson over the weekend, citing his support of workers’ issues in the Maine legislature, along with his track record of winning over rural and working-class voters.
Troy Jackson, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during a demonstration outside of a federal immigration office on July 14, 2026, in Scarborough, Maine. | Ryan Murphy/Getty Images
Some of Platner’s biggest supporters in the state House are beginning to coalesce around Bellows , however. That includes state Rep. Valli Geiger , who had been floated by Platner as a potential replacement before she passed on a run. In a Facebook post , Geiger cited Bellows’ track record of standing up to President Donald Trump as secretary of state, along with the fact that…
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