Republicans fear of 'fatal mistake' in must-win Platner race
Senate Republicans are warning that scandal-plagued oysterman Graham Platner could still defeat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, if the party fails to take the race seriously.
Republicans are defending several seats in expectedly close races, including Nebraska, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, while seeking to flip Georgia. Maine is different: Sen. Susan Collins' seat is the only Republican-held Senate seat in a state won by Kamala Harris in 2024, making it Democrats' most direct path to returning Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to the majority leader's office, Republicans said in a memo circulated Wednesday.
"It is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win," the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) memo obtained by Fox News — addressed to "Interested Parties" — read.
The NRSC agreed that Maine is the "linchpin" of the 35 seats up this year and that despite Platner’s Nazi tattoo, allegations of misogynist violence, arousal from biocide in port-a-johns, and his socialist policy platform, he remains a credible threat to the middle-of-the-road Collins.
"Senator Collins has won tough races before and can win this one, but only if we meet this moment with total urgency," the NRSC said.
"Because Democrats cannot win the majority without [Collins’ seat], they have fully rallied around Graham Platner, an extremely flawed, far-left candidate who secured the nomination last night. Platner has captured his party’s financial backing, outraising Senator Collins in every quarter since entering the race. We must match both the energy and the money to retain the seat," the memo said.
The NRSC said Democrats don’t view Platner’s race as being about the flawed candidate but rather about usurping power.
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The committee said any one of Platner’s multiple scandals would have ended most campaigns, but Democrats remain united around him. The NRSC reported that after former girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield’s allegations against Platner broke, Platner raised $200,000 in one day in what the campaign said was its best haul of the cycle.
"The political fundamentals in Maine remain challenging, and it is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win," the NRSC said.
Collins is the last remaining federal Republican in New England and the only Republican in the Senate north or east of Pennsylvania.
The NRSC reported that Platner is beating Harris’ own margins by seven points while noting Collins has won tough races in the past, but this one is different.
Collins won her last race against former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon by about eight points, and her last electoral loss was way back in 1994 when now-Sen. Angus King Jr., I-Maine, won the governorship in a four-way contest.
Republicans said in the memo that the biggest story in the past week about Platner is not his latest scandal, but the fact that Democrats are circling the wagons around him even more tightly and "propping him up."
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They cited Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna visiting Maine to hold a gushy interview-slash-ad with Platner and the fact that Democrats keep claiming Collins and Trump are worse than the left-winger.
"Gotta do what you gotta do," the NRSC quoted former Biden deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty, while noting that Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse publicly claimed Platner’s foibles are a "lot of nothing."
They also pointed to one of the most influential Democratic operatives claiming that Platner’s flaws actually bolster his qualifications.
Platner had disparaged former Pennsylvania lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Teddy Daniels after video of the Purple Heart recipient being besieged and gravely wounded by the Taliban surfaced several years ago.
"We’ve got a f---ed up guy who could be 100 times more f---ed up than he is and he’d never be as f---ed up as what we’ve got in Washington," said 1992 Bill Clinton campaign architect James Carville, who suggested that Platner’s apparent PTSD should be a symbol on the Hill as to why neoconservatives have been wrong about war powers.
"This is not a party abandoning its nominee. This is a party rationalizing, accepting, and preparing to fight," the NRSC said.
"Republicans need to match that urgency immediately. Define Platner. Defend Collins. Resource Maine," they said. "Senator Collins has proven time and time again, through her work ethic and commitment to the people of Maine and America, that she will prevail."
"This race can be won, but it will not win itself."
NRSC national press secretary Bernadette Breslin exclusively told Fox News Digital that Platner "has become the new face of the Democratic Party, forcing Democrats to own his mounting scandals and socialist wish list."
"Come November, Mainers will see through his fraudulent working-class persona and reject the political baggage Democrats are now stuck defending," Breslin said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DSCC, Platner campaign and Collins campaign for further comment.