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Democratic senators largely avoided answering questions about Graham Platner, the controversial candidate in Maine looking to unseat Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and his many off-color comments that have resurfaced in recent months.
Most Democrats told Fox News Digital they aren’t focused on the Maine contest.
“I’m not following that race closely,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told Fox News Digital earlier this week when approached about Platner.
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Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., left, pictured next to Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, right. (Da Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images; Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The comments — and in many cases, silence — from Democratic lawmakers have done little to clarify whether lawmakers see Platner’s past remarks on sexual abuse, race and terror as a meaningful threat to his Senate candidacy.
It’s a seat Democrats believe presents a ripe opportunity; a chance to knock off a moderate Republican in a Democratic-leaning state. Should Platner take the nomination, Democrats will have to hope his colorful past won’t turn enough voters away to inadvertently hand Collins a sixth term.
Collins, who first took the seat in 1997, last won re-election in 2021 in a 51.0% to 42.4% victory over Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, a state legislator.
Among other resurfaced comments, Platner in one Reddit post once blamed rape victims for failing to protect themselves.
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Senate candidate Graham Platner, D-Maine, speaks at a town hall at the Franco Center in Lewiston, Maine, on Oct. 15, 2025. (Libby Kenny/Sun Journal via AP)
“How about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not so f—ed up when they wind up having sex with someone they…
