Maine Democratic Senate Primary Sees 222,600 Voters, 37% Increase From 2020, With Oyster Farmer Graham Platner Winning 72%

U.S. Senate, a 37 percent increase from the 162,600 who participated in the 2020 contest, according to preliminary data from the Associated Press. The turnout equals about 16 percent of Maine’s population.

Graham Platner, an oyster farmer, received about 72 percent of the vote with 90 percent of ballots counted. He defeated Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign in April, and two other candidates.

Sen. Susan Collins drew roughly 88,400 voters in the 2020 Republican primary when she faced a write-in challenger. This year she ran unopposed. Maine has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris carried the state by about 7 percentage points in 2024. Collins won re-election in 2020 by about 8 points. Platner told MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday that the political environment has changed since 2020.

“People often forget this, but in 2020, we tried to hang the millstone of Brett Kavanaugh around her neck, but materially, Roe still stood. She could still point to it,” he said. ” The National Republican Senatorial Committee issued a memo stating that Platner remains a serious general-election threat.

“The political fundamentals in Maine remain challenging, and it is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win,” the memo said.