PORTLAND, Maine (AP) 鈥� The campaign of U.S. Senate hopeful released an advertisement Tuesday criticizing comments posted online by her rival Graham Platner, in an intensification of their Maine Democratic primary battle.
Mills and Platner are competing for the to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins, whose seat is key for Democrats’ plans to take back the Senate.
The Mills campaign released a video in which women read some of Platner’s old social media posts that were dismissive of sexual assault. A narrator in the ad says Platner once wrote on Reddit that people shouldn’t get so drunk 鈥渢hey wind up having sex with someone they don鈥檛 mean to.鈥�
The women conclude that he is 鈥渁 bully鈥� and there is 鈥渘o way鈥� they could vote for him. The video ends with a voice-over saying: 鈥淕raham Platner: the closer you look, the worse it gets.鈥�
Platner, an oyster farmer and U.S. Marine veteran from rural Maine, apologized for his months ago when they first resurfaced, and said he posted them while struggling with mental health issues after leaving the military. The endorsing political violence, dismissing rape in the military and criticizing police officers and rural America.
Ben Chin, Platner’s campaign manager, described Mills’ ad as a 鈥渄esperate attempt for relevance.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 why people hate politics and why not enough real people run for office: D.C. insiders who are so obsessed with their own power and threatened by someone who is building an actual movement of working people, that they launch a barrage of attacks to try to tear Graham down,鈥� Chin said in a statement.
The Mills campaign said in a statement that Platner’s comments show him 鈥渕inimizing sexual assault and blaming survivors.鈥� The campaign also sent out a statement with comments from several Maine women criticizing Platner.
鈥淕raham Platner鈥檚 comments aren鈥檛 just disgusting or disturbing, they are disqualifying,鈥� said Peggy Schaffer of Vassalboro, a former vice chair of the Maine Democratic Party, in a statement distributed by the Mills campaign. 鈥淭hese comments make him unelectable in any general election.鈥�
The race pits Mills, 78 and a Democratic stalwart who has the backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, against a much younger and far less experienced opponent who has filled town halls across the state with a populist message centered on the cost of housing and health care. Platner, 41, has picked up from independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego.
Platner has also faced questions about a skull-and-crossbones tattoo . He has said he got the tattoo during a night of drinking and was unaware until recently that it was associated with Nazis. He has covered the tattoo with a different design.
Mills took a jab at Platner earlier this month when she posted on social media that 鈥渇or what it鈥檚 worth, I don鈥檛 have any tattoos.鈥�
Platner released an ad of his own on Tuesday that features an endorsement from a Maine woman named Susan Collins who is unrelated to the Republican senator. She describes the senator as a 鈥淒.C. insider鈥� and says Platner is a 鈥淒emocrat with backbone.鈥�
The Collins campaign declined to comment on the dueling ads, or the argument between her prospective opponents. Collins, 73, was elected in 1996 and has turned back numerous challenges from Democratic opponents over the years.
Democrats need to to retake the Senate majority, and they see a path to do so in Maine, North Carolina, Alaska and Ohio.
___
Associated Press reporter Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
