Graham Platner maintains big lead over Janet Mills in Maine senate race, new poll finds

[Celerity]

Platner, a progressive upstart, has a 64% to 26% lead over Maine Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic Senate primary, according to a new UNH poll.

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2026/02/24/platner-maintains-big-lead-over-mills-in-maine-senate-race-new-poll-finds/

Graham Platner, the progressive oyster farmer running for Senate in Maine, is maintaining a large lead over Maine Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic primary, according to new poll results released Tuesday. What’s more, Platner is leading Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent, in a hypothetical general election matchup.

About 64% of likely Democratic primary voters would support Platner if the election were held now, compared to just 26% who say the same for Mills, according to a new poll from the University of New Hampshire.

Platner leads Collins, 49% to 38%, in the general election. On the other hand, a general election battle between Mills and Collins is projected to be a tossup: Mills leads Collins 41% to 40%, the UNH poll found.

snip

Among likely Democratic primary voters, 71% have a favorable opinion of Platner, compared to 51% who say the same about Mills, according to the UNH poll. Platner has a strong base of support among self-described socialists and progressive. He is also winning over moderates: 53% say that they would vote for Platner, compared to 32% who support Mills. The two candidates are evenly split among those who self-identify as liberals.

snip

[RandySF]

1. There goes the Senate majority.

[Celerity]

3. Platner is polling better against Collins than Mills does against Collins.

Also, Platner now has more US Senators and unions endorsing him than Mills does.

Platner: U.S. senators endorsing:

Martin Heinrich, New Mexico (2013–present)
Chris Murphy, Connecticut (2013–present)
Bernie Sanders, Vermont (2007–present) (Independent)
Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island (2007–present)

Labor unions endorsing Platner:

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers

Maine State Nurses Association

United Auto Workers


Mills: U.S. Senators endorsing:

Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada (2017–present)
Chuck Schumer, New York (1999–present)
Kirsten Gillibrand, New York (2010–present)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_Senate_election_in_Maine

[0rganism]

7. The GOP general election attack dogs haven't been set loose upon Mr. Platner yet

Right now, they're quite content to let him win the primary by riding the tides of disgust at "mainstream" Democrats. Once he wins the primary, all those things that were/are seen as problematic about his candidacy will be brought into sharp focus by the Collins campaign; when we won't sufficiently vet our candidates, the Republicans are always happy to help out with that. If Platner wins it'll be a nail-biter, and once he's seated he could easily turn into another Fetterman, or something even worse.

This is way more complicated than the current polling suggests.

[Celerity]

12. A shame it will very likely come down to Mills and Platner. Mills will be 85yo at the end of her first term, she will be

the oldest ever first time elected US Senator should she win, and she also has multiple problematic stances.

For instance she is pro filibuster, she is anti-decriminalisation for small personal use amounts of drugs, is anti red-flag laws for guns, she has vetoed collective bargaining rights (so anti-union), vetoed wealth taxes, vetoed protections for renters, and vetoed some tribal sovereignty laws, etc.

Platner simply has a lot of baggage that can be used against him, as you stated. Very problematic that he was not vetted better.

I so wish the people of Maine (and by extension all Democrats nationwide) had a better viable third Democratic candidate option to chose over those two.

[Jilly_in_VA]

2. I liked Platner at first

but now he strikes me as another Fetterman. God help us all.

[PatSeg]

14. Same here

And I would hardly call him "progressive".

[mwmisses4289]

4. Not up on Maine politics, but wasn't there some issue with Platner?

[Iggo]

18. He had a nazi tattoo for decades. Removed it when called out on it.

And just last week, he shared and deleted an anti-war-with-Iran quote from a neo-nazi.

In short, he keeps accidentally being a Nazi.

[drray23]

5. Platner is an idiot.

If he is elected, we will have another Fetterman in our mist. Fetterman campaigned as a strong labor union supporter as well, was all bombastic and motivated voters. We all know how this ended.

[Renew Deal]

10. Then he had a stroke

[W_HAMILTON]

16. There were signs before the stroke.

Last edited Fri Feb 27, 2026, 07:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Chasing down a black guy jogging and holding him at gun point because he thought he heard gunshots (they were fireworks) and then refusing to apologize for it?

We should not be so quick to ignore the red flags with Platner like we did with Fetterman.

[Iggo]

19. He's either a nazi or an ex-nazi or an idiot.

It seems he would rather you believe he’s an idiot.

When something like this strains credulity, I apply the “lying or telling the truth” test.

He’s either lying when he says he was too stupid to know he had a nazi tattoo on his chest, or he’s telling the truth when he says he was too stupid to know he had a nazi tattoo on his chest.

Either way…

[Prairie Gates]

6. People are starting to vote with their feet against 70-somethings running for 6 year terms

Janet Mills is 78 years old! SEVENTY EIGHT! Who starts a completely new, high pressure job at 78?!?

Oh, excuse me, she will be 79 when sworn in!

There's a difference between agism and simple common sense.

Platner is in some ways extremely goofy, and he's a Class A rake-stepper. He also seems like somebody who will bro out with MAGAs because that's what "normal working class dudes do," and similar Fettermanisms. But jeez, enough already with the 80 year-olds starting new jobs. Pass the damn torch, people.

[Quiet Em]

8. This poll might only be accurate in capturing younger voters

From the Portland Press Herald

The poll of the Democratic Senate primary included responses from 462 likely primary voters gathered from Feb. 12-16, and had a margin of error of 4.6%.

In addition to the relatively small sample size, the poll heavily sampled younger voters even though Maine is one of the oldest states in the nation. About 29% of those surveyed were aged 18-34, while about 27% were 65 or older. And about a fifth of those surveyed were self-identified socialists.

https://www.pressherald.com/2026/02/24/graham-platner-grows-lead-in-u-s-senate-primary-against-gov-janet-mills-poll-shows-2/

[Renew Deal]

9. Does it say anything about who is likely to vote?

Are younger voters telling pollsters that they are more likely to vote?

[Quiet Em]

11. I would find it hard to believe that young voters would make up that big of a percentage in the State of Maine.

I don't know why they chose to oversample young voters.

[Renew Deal]

13. I struggled even typing it.

Last edited Fri Feb 27, 2026, 03:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Part of me hopes it’s true and they are that engaged.

[thought crime]

15. Duh. Voters are imposing an age limit; just as they should.

[Red Mountain]

17. He's not perfect

not even close. If I lived in Maine, I'd vote for him in a second over the alternatives in the primary and general.

Feeling a bit lucky (for once) to have the choices available to me here in NC.

Roy all the way.

[Iggo]

20. If I lived in Maine I'd vote for anyone but him.

Even though he wants me to think he didn’t know that was a nazi tattoo, I don’t believe that for a second. And I don’t vote for possible nazis.