Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has broken away from some of his Democrat colleagues to endorse a popular oyster farmer and former U.S. Marine in his bid to win Maine’s hotly contested Senate race.
A surging grassroots campaign has already formed behind Graham Platner, known online as “the oysterman,” who is attempting to oust beleaguered Republican Susan Collins. His campaign claims to have raised $1 million and signed up 3,000 in just 10 days.
“Graham is a Marine and Army National Guard veteran, an oyster farmer, and a proud member of America’s working class,” Sanders wrote in an emailed statement Saturday, endorsing Platner.
“He’s a Mainer through and through, and he is building a movement strong enough to take on the oligarchy that is making Maine unaffordable for all except a privileged few. I look forward to Graham joining me in Washington.”
In response, Platner said he was “honored beyond words.” “Together we’re going to defeat Susan Collins and take back our government for the people,” he wrote on X.
Sanders’ endorsement of the 40-year-old Platner comes at odds with others in the Democratic Party, who are reportedly hoping that the state’s 77-year-old Governor Janet Mills will enter the race instead.
The Vermont Senator and Platner are set to hold a rally on Labor Day with logger turned Maine gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson in Portland, Maine. The venue has been changed from an auditorium to a much larger arena due to the interest, according to Rolling Stone.
Prior to his bid, launched earlier this month, Platner has no political experience and though he has dismissed being labeled as “liberal,” he has embraced several more progressive policies, in line with those of Sanders.
In social media posts he has championed universal health care, blasted the “oligarchy” in the U.S. and calling for an end to what he described as “a genocide happening in Palestine.” He has also criticized the current Democrat Party for what he sees as a lack of urgency.
“Nothing p***** me off more than getting a fundraising text from Democrats talking about how they’re fighting fascism…Because it’s such bulls***,” Platner wrote on X. “We’re not idiots. Everyone knows most of them aren’t doing jack s*** right now to fight back.”
Platner also posted a photo from his old high school yearbook which is captioned “Most Likely to Start a Revolution.” “We’ll see!” Platner captioned the photo.
The growing grassroots campaign is so far eclipsing the Democrat push for Mills to run for the Senate seat. Mills recently told the Portland Press Herald that she is “seriously considering” running but that she is “not in any rush to make a decision.” As a result, Democrats have targeted the seat as one they could flip in the midterms.
Collins, a moderate Republican who has been known to be critical of Preisdent Donald Trump, has seen her approval rating dramatically dip. A poll from July showed that only 38 percent of Mainers approved of her work.
As a result, Democrats have targeted the seat as one they could flip in the midterms.
Despite this, as The Independent previously reported, younger Democrats have been hesitant to challenge her.
The Senator has angered liberals and conservatives alike by constantly claiming she’s “concerned” with the president’s various policies before voting in favor of him. However, Collins did vote to convict Trump after January 6, endorsed Nikki Haley against Trump in 2024 and voted against Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”
More recently she also criticized the firing by the Trump administration of CDC Director Susan Monarez, saying she was “concerned and alarmed” by the decision. Though she voted to confirm Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, she has taken issue with some of his actions icnluding cuts to National Institute of Health research grants.
She also called Kennedy’s decision to remove all 17 sitting members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices a “bad mistake.”
Earlier this week, Collins was met with protests at a Maine food bank and at a small ribbon cutting ceremony.
